Robinho mulls Manchester City return

LONDON: Brazil forward Robinho has revealed that he has not ruled out a return to Manchester City after the World Cup.

Robinho, who spent the second half of last season on loan at Santos, has been heavily linked with a permanent move away from Eastlands this summer.

However, quoted in the Daily Star Sunday, Robinho said: "I honestly don't know what will happen at City. We will just see what happens over the summer but I haven't ruled out a return.

"First things first. The only thing on my mind now is helping the Brazilian team to win the World Cup.

"But I thought Manchester City were a good choice for me. I understood the reactions when I joined them. People thought I was going for the money but if it was then I would have gone to Dubai or an Arabic country.

"But I wanted to play in the Premier League and I was happy to join a club with big ambitions.

"They have the money and ambition to make it into the top four in England. And, believe me, next season City will. Maybe I'll be there to help them.

"When I moved to City a lot of Brazilians did not really know much about the club and they thought it was a step down.

"But I'm now thinking that people think it was the right decision for me."

Signed from Real Madrid in 2008 for a British transfer record of 32.5 million pounds, Robinho failed to make a major impression on English football.

Robinho is however keeping his options open and could also consider a return to former club Real Madrid.

"I was not satisfied with the way they (Madrid) treated me in the end," the 26-year-old said. "I was very disappointed in how they talked about me like I was some kind of merchandise or currency.

"It would take some convincing to get me to return but I don't have any problems with the people running Real Madrid now."

Barcelona elect new chairman: Television

BARCELONA: Barcelona's former vice chairman Sandro Rosell was Sunday elected to replace his one-time adversary Joan Laporta as the boss of the Spanish champions, Catalan television said.

Rosell, a former Nike executive who was behind Brazilian Ronaldinho's move to Barcelona in 2003, won 62 percent of the vote by club members, beating three other candidates to become chairman of the Catalan giants, TV3 reported, quoting exit polls.

However, Rosell said he would wait for the official result, expected later in the evening, before claiming victory.

"We have to wait, we must be very careful," he said shortly after the voting ended at 9:00pm (1900 GMT). "It would be very exciting, but we have to wait."

Laporta, 47, was ineligible to stand for election again after holding the post since 2003.

Rosell was on the club's board between 2003 and 2005 during Laporta's first term.

He quit as vice chairman in 2005 because he was disillusioned with the way the club was being run, accusing it of lacking "independence, transparency and democracy".

"The problem is Laporta, he has a problem with himself. The project of this group of youths has gotten lost in recent years," he said at the time.

If confirmed in the post, Rosell will have urgent issues to attend to such as getting coach Pep Guardiola to agree to a contract extension and fulfilling the desire of fans to bring midfielder Cesc Fabregas back from Arsenal.

Under Laporta's guidance Barcelona won the Champions League twice - in 2006 and 2009 - and the Spanish league four times - in 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2010 - making it the most successful period in the club's history.

Laporta said in January that he was considering creating a political party to seek independence for Spain's Catalonia region.

Barcelona's outgoing vice-president Jaume Ferrer was the only one of the four candidates in the race who had the backing of Laporta.

We played great, but the ball just refused to go in: Maradona

JOHANNESBURG: On Saturday, Diego Maradona made a return to the World Cup. This is familiar territory for him. He entered the post-game press conference chomping on an apple.

As he heard one of those questions that he's heard a million times before, even though this is different because he is manager and all, he took a huge bite of the fruit.

It was vintage Maradona. Suddenly he remembered he's the manager - he took the field in a suit, actually not recognizable at first - and not wanting to be seen as impolite, instinctively covered his mouth as the question carried on.

Immediately, it became the talking point of the World Cup till Robert Green, England's goalkeeper stole that with his sharp goal-letting against the US later. "I think we played really well," said Maradona. "The ball just refused to go in. It was incredible. And credit to the Nigerian goalkeeper for his performance. If we had won by two-three goals, you would have said we had a great match. I think we couldn't show on the scoreboard what we did on the pitch. That's football," he said.

Argentina have swept South Africa with their opening show against much-respected Nigeria. The second of the half-dozen African teams here who began their campaign were scared off the park by a hypnotic Messi and mates. It was as if the Argentines went Boo! and Nigeria scampered away, with Vincent Enyeama hanging on since the ball belonged to him. It is all still taking some sinking in.

"I fear no one. Never did unless I am wearing a mask. This game is about wins, losses and draws. It isn't about fear," he said about his World Cup debut. After Saturday, everything seems like falling into place.

Argentine journalists later spoke of how complete and hungry Messi seemed both in body and intent. "It was a potent sign," they felt.

Maradona admitted it was a plan to let the boy loose from Game One onwards, to allow him a feel of the ball. "Football's worth watching if he has the ball," he said, adding, "Taking the ball away from him is like taking chocolate from a kid."

Brazil are still to kick off their World Cup, and so are Spain and while England's performance drew the tournament's sniggers, it is Argentina they are raving about.

On Sunday, radio show hosts spoke of how the throb and noise of the Argentinian drums had actually drowned the vuvuzela. The host country had no problems in admitting that they had been upstaged.

In hotel lobbies and restaurant, they offered a sympathetic hand to Nigerian fans the morning after. The Nigerians in turn, offered to support South Africa from now on. "Yes, we are friends now," offered the local. It indicated a lingering regional rivalry that could be forgotten for the sake of United Africa now.

For Maradona, it is an emotional return 16 years after he had to quit the world stage after testing positive for a banned substance at USA 94. "I went through a lot of emotions today. I met my grandchildren, my daughter and kissed her. I went to 2006 as a fan and to be at the World Cup as Argentina coach, is truly an incredible feeling. I thank everyone who supported me and thank them for remembering that I too once scored a few goals for Argentina."

Was it the footballer in the man still speaking? But, wasn't he a manager now, and all set to emulate Franz Beckenbauer (and Mario Zagallo) who won the World Cup both as a player and manager?

Maradona heard the question, regarded it. Like the fruit he chewed on it awhile, then rolled his eyes and said: "I don't think I look like Beckenbauer. Never will."

Then he smiled, didn't wink because he is manager and all. "We are two different people," he continued. "It's just that we won an important match today. We need to improve a lot to win the next six...."

Impressive Germans hammer Australia 4-0

DURBAN (South Africa): Three-time champions Germany fired out a warning to World Cup challengers with a comprehensive 4-0 dismantling of Australia in their opening Group D match on Sunday.

The Germans totally dominated the Socceroos, with captain Philipp Lahm and rising stars Mesut Oezil and Thomas Mueller running Australian veterans Scott Chipperfield and Craig Moore ragged down the right wing.

Goals from Lukas Podolski, Miroslav Klose, Mueller and Brazil-born striker Cacau were just rewards for a team which also had a hatful of other scoring opportunities.

The victory leaves Germany atop of Group D, Ghana having beaten Serbia 1-0 in the day's other game.

Podolski opened the scoring in the ninth minute, the happy recipient of a text-book training ground move executed to clinical perfection.

After Oezil had played in Mueller, the Bayern Munich right winger cut the ball back across the face of the goal for Podolski to hammer home left-footed, with Australia goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer getting a hand on it.

Klose, top scorer in the 2006 World Cup, made it 2-0 in the 27th minute with a well-taken goal - and his 11th in World Cup finals - rising between Australian captain Lucas Neill and Schwarzer to head powerfully home from a Lahm cross from the right.

The Socceroos then paid a heavy price for the dismissal of Tim Cahill, shown a straight red card in the 56th minute by Mexican referee Marco Rodriguez for a very clumsy challenge on Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Two goals in a matter of minutes from Mueller (67) and Cacau (70), on as a replacement for Klose, sealed Australia's dismal start to their third World Cup campaign.

Mueller, who started the season in Bayern Munich's reserves, looked like he'd overrun a Podolski through-ball it but he dragged it back and shot accurately past Schwarzer, in off the post.

With the Australian defence in disarray, Caucau then had a simple tuck-in from another inch-perfect pass into the box by the 21-year-old Oezil.

It was Australia who had the first real chance of the game, Lahm clearing a close-range effort by Richard Garcia in the fourth minute.

And for all their fine attacking instincts, Germany did at times look slow to close down at the back, allowing time and space for both Garcia and replacement Brett Holman to have shots on target.

Goalkeeping remains England's fragile link

JOHANNESBURG: You don't prepare mentally for making great saves and playing the perfect game. You prepare for trauma. Great thoughts, remarkable composure and some defiance in the face of what has swiftly become the gaffe of the World Cup, Robert 'Greenhorn' Green's playground blooper on Saturday night against the US, has catapulted the West Ham goalkeeper into unwanted limelight.

And while everyone is swiftly drawing up lists of English goalkeeping howlers at major football events rating the Rustenburg riot as the worst, it has also reopened the debate that does the rounds each major football championship: Is England a victim of its own outdated intellectual arrogance?

From David Seaman to Paul Robinson to Green - stopping midway to help David 'Calamity' James fish the ball out of his net - England's tryst with goalkeeping blunders is only strengthening. As videos of the latest blooper are racing up the charts on the Net, Green is unruffled. "It won't affect me psychologically," he said later. "I'm 30, I'm a man, and you have hardships in life and prepare for them. At a younger point in my life it would have affected me more."

This could be just an honest mistake by a top-class goalkeeper (as the English would have us believe) at the highest level, but while clearly apart from Beckham and Rooney's metatarsals, goalkeeping remains the most fragile link in the England set-up, the goalkeepers alone cannot be blamed for England's ineptitude. Current skipper Steven Gerrard is famous for his suicidal backpasses, while Frank Lampard has missed so many penalties that they have stopped keeping count.

With Fabio Capello at the helm, Gerrard as skipper and Rooney at full tilt, there seemed a return to the old working class ethos for England this time. There was a sneaking feeling about them this time, but may be it is their hype which makes it believable, at play again.

Suddenly, there is growing discontent over Capello's methods, his decision of persisting with the out-of-depth Emile Heskey for one - and his perceived lack of control. Many are puzzled why he chose Green ahead of the veteran James, who on his day can swing between the sublime and the ridiculous. Green was James' understudy going into the World Cup.

Which team serious about winning takes along an injured superstar to stand in his best-cut suit in the dugout and ostensibly cheer on his mates? David Beckham has replaced the WAGs in the English scheme of things this time. Ronaldinho has been sacked, no one is shedding a tear anymore for Javier Zanetti. Their countrymen, like their teams have moved on. It is the hallmark of a team focussed on winning, which you cannot say with conviction about England.

2nd T20I: India beat Zimbabwe by 7 wickets

HARARE: Skipper Suresh Raina led from the front with a blistering 72 as India signed off their Zimbabwe tour with a comprehensive seven-wicket win over the hosts in the second and final Twenty20 International on Sunday.

Scorecard | Match in Pics

Chasing 141, India made 144 for three in 18 overs at the Harare Sports Club ground with Raina dispatching Chris Mpofu to boundary for the winning runs.

Tatenda Taibu earlier top-scored with 45 and shared a 43-run stand for the fourth wicket with Charles Coventry (28 off 13) to steer Zimbabwe to 140 for five.

Raina stepped on to the field after the fall of Naman Ojha (10) in fifth over and stayed till the job was done.

Along with Murali Vijay (46), Raina shared a 79-run stand for the second wicket, which set up the second comfortable Indian win in as many days.

Raina's 44-ball knock had six fours and two sixes in it. After an ordinary show in the three-week tour, Vijay finally got some runs under his belt and the Chennai batsman would be relived after playing a good hand in the Indian win.

Vijay and skipper Suresh Raina batted with ease and were hardly troubled by the host bowlers.

Vijay missed out on his half-century when he attempted a big shot but off Chamu Chibhabha and his checked shot landed in the hands of Graeme Cremer in the 15th over.

Raina continued the good work and carried the team home just after losing another partner in Yusuf Pathan (4).

India's consecutive win, after a lacklustre show in the ODI tri-series, would do a world of good to the confidence of its youngsters just ahead of the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka.

Earlier, confident of chasing down whatever the hosts would put on board, Raina yet again invited the hosts to bat but despite having them in clutches they leaked too many runs in the second half to allow them a come back in the match.

While in the first 10 overs India conceded just 47 runs including a mere five boundaries, spinners struggled to keep the run flow in check and the last over cost India 93 runs.

The slow bowlers could not weave the same magic they had created in the first Twenty20 and leaked 95 runs in the 12 overs shared by Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra and R Ashwin.

Ashwin bled most runs as he ended up giving away 48 runs in his four overs.

Taibu, whose 45 came off 40 balls with just two fours, shaped the hosts innings well and along with Charles Coventry (28 off 13) rescued the side with a defiant 43-run stand for the fourth wicket.

Before that stand opener Brendan Taylor played a patient 33-ball 27 to help the side overcome the early jolts of losing Hamilton Masakadza (2) and Chamu Chibhabha (7).

Indian pacers, especially Ashok Dinda, were exceptional and did a tremendous job. The Bengal medium fast bowler gave away just 15 runs in his four-over quota and took two wickets.

Things were set beautifully for India but gritty batting by Taibu and Coventry made it a contest for the visitors.

Saina fights back to win India Open Grand Prix title

CHENNAI: Top seed Saina Nehwal, looking a tad rusty following a long break, bounced back in style to beat Malaysia's Mew Choo Wong 20-22, 21-14, 21-12 in the women's final of the Yonex-Sunrise India Open Grand Prix badminton tournament on Sunday.

World No.6 Saina's victory compensated for the disappointing show by seventh seeded RMV Guru Sai Dutt who went down 13-21, 18-21, to unheralded Indonesian Yunus Alamsyah in the men's singles final, with the visitor clinching his first major international title.

Both the singles winners picked up 7,000 points that should see them move up the world rankings.

Saina, playing her first tournament in two months, was rather patchy as she blew a 20-18 lead in the first game, but kept her nerves to take the next two games, capitalising on a desperate Mew's errors.

It was not the best of matches and the conditions inside the hall were tricky. The raucous crowd that kept up a din even when a rally was in progress, irritating flies, and the sideways air drift due to air-conditioning, put a premium on concentration and judgment.

However, Saina took these irritants in her stride and after the initial tentative approach, changed her stance in the second game when she turned aggressive and maintained the momentum in the decider when she opened up a 10-point lead early on to seal the match.

"I was nervous at the start and committed too many errors. In the normal course, I should have won in two games, but this being my first tournament in two months, I was nervous. In the second and third games, I played aggressively," said Saina after the 56-minute match.

"I am happy winning the tournament and that too at home, and yes, it's a good preparation for the two Super Series events (Singapore and Indonesia) I am participating in this month. In fact, I am playing Mew in the first round at Singapore!" she added.

On her part, Mew admitted that Saina was just too good for her. "I have played her before and I tried my best, but today, she was too good for me, especially in the second and third games," Mew, ranked No.22, said through an interpreter.

In contrast, Sai Dutt hardly got going against the highly defensive Alamsyah, who benefitted largely on the mistakes committed by the 20-year old Indian rather than doing anything out of the ordinary.

Undoubtedly, Alamsyah is one of the better retrievers around, but there is little else in his game besides a fairly sharp smash that surprisingly he uses sparingly. Under the circumstances, Gurusaidutt needed to be patient and await a clear opening before going for the kill, something he failed to.

"I was anxious to finish off the rallies quickly and made mistakes. I will now have to work harder on my game and fitness to reach the next level," said Guru who is currently ranked 66 as against 125 of the Indonesian, who Saturday night took out top seeded Indian Chetan Anand.

Quite the best thing about Alamsyah was his creativity at the net, marked by wristy dribbles some of which sent Guru Sai Dutt the wrong way. The Indian would have been better off to keep Alamsyah in the backcourt rather than match him at the net.

In both the games, the 23-year old Alamsyah took early leads and then kept Guru Sai Dutt, playing in his maiden international final, under pressure that eventually cracked his defense wide open.

Algeria keeper hands Slovenia 1-0 win

POLOKWANE, South Africa: A dreadful mistake by Algeria goalkeeper Faouzi Chaouchi handed Slovenia a 1-0 victory in their opening World Cup Group C match on Sunday.

Match in Pics

Chaouchi fumbled a harmless looking 79th minute shot from Slovenia captain Robert Koren, allowing the ball to squirt through his arms into the bottom left hand corner of his net.

Algeria had been reduced to 10 men when substitute Abdelkader Ghezzal was sent off in the 73rd for handball having already been booked. He was only on the pitch for 15 minutes.

It was Slovenia's first win at a World Cup after their only previous appearance, in 2002, ended in three defeats.

They top Group C with three points, two ahead of England and the United States, who drew 1-1 in Rustenburg on Saturday.

The Algerians had been marginally the better the side in a lacklustre encounter until then, with the bleach-blonde Hassan Yebda bossing their midfield.

But they created few chances with their best opening having come as early as the third minute through a Nadir Belhadj free kick which Samir Handanovic tipped over the bar.

At the other end, Slovenia created little of note until just before the break when a rasping left foot strike from midfielder Valter Birsa forced an acrobatic save from Chaouchi.

Both teams appeared to struggle with the high bouncing World Cup ball and time after time they over-hit their passes with the ball running harmlessly out of play.

England's draw with the U.S. in the group's opening match also contained a goalkeeping error, with England's Robert Green producing a howler to gift the Americans their equaliser.

Hewitt slays Federer to win Halle title

HALLE: Lleyton Hewitt stunned longtime nemesis Roger Federer of Switzerland to lift the ATP grass-court Halle title on his first appearance on Sunday.

The eighth seeded Australian rallied from a set down to beat the five-time Halle champion and top seed Federer 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4.

Hewitt, the 2002 Wimbledon champion, ended a 15-match winless streak to the world number two stretching back to a Davis Cup match in September 2003 and moved closer to 100 grass-court match wins as he improved to a 98-23 lifetime mark on the surface.

The 28-year-old Federer had been looking for his 30th straight match win in Halle and his sixth title in his past six appearances.

He had not lost a match there since a semifinal defeat to Nicolas Kiefer in 2002 (he did not play in 2007, 2009) and had won 76 of his past 77 grass-court matches, with the only blemish being a five-set defeat to Rafael Nadal in the 2008 Wimbledon final.

"I had a bit more luck today," said the 29-year-old Australian, who sealed the match when the ball clipped the net on its way in and out of Federer's reach.

Six-time Wimbledon champion Federer, who only lost his number one status last Monday after going out in the quarterfinals of the French Open, had been bidding for his 16th straight victory over Hewitt in their 25th meeting.

"Any time you play Roger on a grass court you know you're in for a hell of a battle and I was lucky to get out of today's match," said Hewitt.

"I'm getting towards the end of my career and had a couple of surgeries, to know I can still compete at this level it's fantastic for me," said Hewitt, who lifted his first title since Houston last year.

Hewitt fought for every ball as he played an almost error-free game from the base line, forcing Federer onto the defensive with the Swiss player's service and forehand letting him down at key moments.

"That made it tough against him, particularly in the phases when he returned everything," said Federer. "He played fantastic and deserved to win."