Trio in line for top award

The final trio who will battle it out to be named the FIFA World Player of the Year next month has been revealed.

Thierry Henry, Ronaldinho and Andrei Shevchenko have been selected from an original shortlist of 35 players and the award will be announced at FIFA’s World Player Gala on 20 December 20 in Zurich.

Arsenal striker Henry is considered the favourite as he was also in the last three a year ago.

The inclusion of Barcelona’s Brazilian forward Ronaldinho and AC Milan’s Ukrainian striker Shevchenko among the final trio means that it is the first time since 1999 that a Real Madrid player has not been in the last three.

None of the players who excelled in Euro 2004 have made the top three.

In the women’s section, Mia Hamm (USA), Birgit Prinz (Germany) and Brazil’s Marta - one of the stars of the recent women’s Under-19 World Championship in Thailand - are vying for the prestigious award.

Real Madrid striker notches 49 European goals

Real Madrid’s Raul has equalled Alfredo Di Stefano’s all-time European scoring record of 49 goals.

The Spanish striker’s record-equalling goal came in the 70th minute of their Champions League Group B match against Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday.

Di Stefano scored his 49 goals in 58 matches between 1955 and 1964 as Real Madrid won five consecutive European Cups.

Raul has scored his 49 goals in 94 Champions League matches for Real Madrid since 1995, winning the competition on three occasions.

RAUL FACTFILE

Born: Madrid, 27 June 1977

- 1992: Joined Real Madrid after city rivals Atletico closed down their youth team set-up.

- 1994: At the age of 17, made first team debut against Real Zaragoza on 29 October. Scored first goal a week later against his former club Atletico Madrid.

- 1995: Won first league title with Real Madrid.

- 1997: Won second league. Also won Spanish Super Cup after 5-3 aggregate victory over Barcelona.

- 1998: Helped Real Madrid to first European Cup win for 32 years, playing in the final victory over Juventus in Amsterdam. Scored brilliant solo goal in December to give Spain 2-1 victory over Vasco da Gama in World Club Cup final in Japan.

- 1999: Finished 1998-99 season as “pichichi”, the league’s top scorer, with 25 goals.

- 2000: Won Champions League for second time, scoring third goal in 3-0 victory over Valencia in the final. Also voted best forward in the Champions League. Scored one goal in Euro 2000, in 2-1 win over Slovenia, but missed penalty in the final minute of quarter-final against France, consigning Spain to 2-1 defeat.

- 2001: Voted best forward in the Champions League for second successive season. Won third league title, finishing season as Spain’s leading scorer for second time, with 24 goals.

- 2001/02: Won third Champions League title, scoring the opener in Real’s 2-1 victory over Bayer Leverkusen at Hampden. Scores three goals in the group stages of the World Cup, but injury against Ireland ruled him out of the quarter-final defeat against South Korea. Appointed captain of Spain.

- 2002/03: Wins fourth league title, finishing the season with 16 goals. Breaks Fernando Hierro’s record as leading scorer for Spain when he scores his 31st goal in his 59th appearance in Spain’s 3-1 friendly win over Germany.

- 23 November 2004: Equals Alfredo Di Stefano’s all-time record of 49 goals in the European Cup.

Honours

4 Spanish league titles

3 Champions League

1 European Super Cup

3 Spanish Super Cups

2 World Club Cups

373 Spanish league appearance and 183 goals.

Leading all-time scorer for Spain with 40 goals in 81 games.

United boss takes charge of 1,000th game

Sir Alex Ferguson will proudly walk out at Old Trafford tonight for his 1,000th game as Manchester United manager when his team faces Lyon in the Champions League.

In his 18th season at United, Sir Alex has guided them to the 1999 Champions League triumph, a Cup Winners’ Cup title in 1991, a Super Cup win the same year, eight Premier League titles, five FA Cup Final wins and a League Cup Final victory.

The breakdown of his Old Trafford reign makes for impressive reading: played 999, won 563 (56%), drawn 188 (19%) and lost 248 (25%)

Ferguson has led the Red Devils in ten different competitions over the years:

Premiership / Football League: 707
FA Cup: 78
Football League Cup: 65
European Cup / Champions League: 115
European Cup Winners Cup: 13
UEFA Cup: 4
European Super Cup: 2
World Club Championship: 3
Toyota Cup: 1
Charity Shield: 11

His first match was a 2-0 defeat at Oxford United in the old First Division on 8 November 1986 before a crowd of 13,545 at the Manor Ground. Goals from John Aldridge and Neil Slatter left them struggling in 20th position.

The first Fergie selection was: Chris Turner, Mike Duxbury, Arthur Albiston, Kevin Moran, Paul McGrath (sub: Jesper Olsen), Graeme Hogg, Clayton Blackmore, Remi Moses, Frank Stapleton, Peter Davenport and Peter Barnes.

Governing body approve synthetic pitches

Uefa have sanctioned the use of artificial turf in all European competitions, including internationals.

After years of lobbying, European football’s governing body this week accepted that the latest synthetic pitches are a suitable alternative to grass.

Uefa spokesman Rob Faulkner said:

“People in England have bad memories of the artificial pitches of Luton and QPR in the 1980s, but the latest generation are completely different and are much more like grass. We have sanctioned its use from the start of next season but only as long as it is the latest generation of artificial turf and meets a whole series of standards.”

Uefa Cup matches have already been played on artificial turf at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium but they can only be used with the away side’s consent.

Iceland’s Hafnarfjordur refused to play a Uefa Cup match at Dunfermline Athletic’s East End Park this season because the Scottish side have an artificial surface.

Uefa had ordered a two-year study into synthetic surfaces to monitor any differences from the number of injuries suffered by players to the bounce of the ball.

Although European Championship qualifiers now will be allowed on synthetic pitches, Uefa will continue to insist that the finals are staged entirely on grass so that all teams in a tournament play on the same surface.

It is anticipated that several leading clubs from Scandinavia and Eastern Europe will install artificial turf in preparation for the start of the 2005/06 season.

English clubs are also giving the subject serious consideration.

Last week, Leeds United’s chief operations officer Shaun Harvey said:

“Technology has moved on at such a speed that if the regulations change, we’d have to consider the additional revenue streams that could be generated. We already have a state-of-the-art artificial pitch at our training ground which is as near to grass as it can be. The players are delighted with it and a lot of clubs, especially in the lower divisions, would benefit from replacing their grass pitches because they’d be able to use them seven days a week.”

Cavan Walker, Sheffield Wednesday’s commercial director added:

“If it didn’t affect the quality of football, we’d obviously have to look at it. We played two pre-season games in Ibiza and the quality was extremely good.”

Despite a possible cost of £300,000, an artificial surface seems set to be installed at Torquay United’s Plainmoor following chairman Mike Bateson’s comments:

“We could dispense with renting our training pitches and turn an under-used ground into a thriving centre for the local community. Multi-usage would give us a return of something like £50,000 a year.”

Iranian tops all-time international goalscoring chart

Iran’s Ali Daei became the first player to score one hundred international goals when he netted four times in a 7-0 rout of Laos in a World Cup soccer qualifier yesterday.

The 35-year-old striker now has 102 goals in 133 appearances for Iran. They secured a place in next year’s final round of 2006 Asian World Cup qualifiers with this victory in Tehran.

Daei - who made his full international debut against Pakistan in June 1993 - has had spells in Germany at Bayern Munich and Hertha Berlin.

The top ten all-time international goalscorers are:

1 Ali Daei [Iran] - 100 goals (133 apps) - 1993/2004
2 Ferenc Puskás [Hungary & Spain] - 84 (89) - 1945/56
3 Pelé [Brazil] - 77 (92) - 1957/71
4 Sándor Kocsis [Hungary] - 75 (68) - 1948/56
5 Gerd Müller [West Germany] - 68 (62) - 1966/74
6 Majed Abdullah [Saudi Arabia] - 67 (139) - 1978/94
7= Hossam Hassan [Egypt] - 63 (163) - 1985/2004
7= Jassem Al-Houwaidi [Kuwait] - 63 (74) - 1992/2002
7= Kiatisuk Senamuang [Thailand] - 63 (116) - 1993/2004
10 Imre Schlosser [Hungary] - 59 (68) - 1906/27

Paraguay legend calls it a day

Legendary goalkeeper Jose Luis Chilavert brought the curtain down on his glittering career on Monday in familiar style.

The 39-year-old former Paraguay captain - who scored 56 goals from penalties and free kicks during a 24-year career - equalised from the spot in a 2-1 win over a South American All Stars team in his farewell Testimonial game played at Argentine First Division club Velez Sarsfield.

With sides mostly made up of retired players, Velez fielded many of the team that he helped to win the South American Libertadores Cup and World Club Cup ten years ago.

Chilean Ivan Zamorano, Uruguay’s Enzo Francescoli and Colombians Carlos Valderrama and keeper Rene Higuita played for the All-Star team coached by Argentina’s 1986 World Cup-winning coach Carlos Bilardo.

Chilavert led Paraguay to the second round in the 1998 World Cup and also played in the 2002 tournament in Japan and South Korea.

Magazine releases shortlist

France Football has announced the list of 50 nominees for the Golden Ball award.

The Golden Ball has been a benchmark dating back to the first award in 1956 when Sir Stanley Matthews was the winner.

This year’s winner will be selected next month in the magazine’s annual poll of selected journalists from around the world.

Pavel Nedved clinched the trophy with 190 points last year, ahead of Thierry Henry with 128 and Paolo Maldini with 123.

The 2004 nominees are:

Adriano (Brazil - Inter Milan, Italy)
Ailton (Brazil - Schalke 04, Germany)
Roberto Ayala (Argentina - Valencia, Spain)
Ruben Baraja (Spain - Valencia, Spain)
Milan Baros (Czech Republic - Liverpool, England)
Fabien Barthez (France - Olympique Marseille, France)
David Beckham (England - Real Madrid, Spain)
Gianluigi Buffon (Italy - Juventus, Italy)
Petr Cech (Czech Republic - Chelsea, England)
Angelos Haristeas (Greece - Werder Bremen, Germany)
Deco (Portugal - Barcelona, Spain)
Traianos Dellas (Greece - AS Roma, Italy)
Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast - Chelsea, England)
Emerson (Brazil - Juventus, Italy)
Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon - Barcelona, Spain)
Luis Figo (Portugal - Real Madrid, Spain)
Ludovic Giuly (France - Barcelona, Spain)
Thierry Henry (France - Arsenal, England)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden - Juventus, Italy)
Juninho Pernambucano (Brazil - Olympique Lyon, France)
Kaka (Brazil - AC Milan, Italy)
Michalis Kapsis (Greece - Girondins Bordeaux, France)
Frank Lampard (England - Chelsea, England)
Henrik Larsson (Sweden - Barcelona, Spain)
Paolo Maldini (Italy - AC Milan, Italy)
Maniche (Portugal - Porto, Portugal)
Johan Micoud (France - Werder Bremen, Germany)
Mista (Spain - Valencia, Spain)
Fernando Morientes (Spain - Real Madrid, Spain)
Pavel Nedved (Czech Republic - Juventus, Italy)
Alessandro Nesta (Italy - AC Milan, Italy)
Antonis Nikopolidis (Greece - Olympiakos Piraeus, Greece)
Andrea Pirlo (Italy - AC Milan, Italy)
Jose Antonio Reyes (Spain - Arsenal, England)
Ricardo Carvalho (Portugal - Chelsea, England)
Ronaldinho (Brazil - Barcelona, Spain)
Ronaldo (Brazil - Real Madrid, Spain)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal - Manchester United, England)
Wayne Rooney (England - Manchester United, England)
Tomas Rosicky (Czech Republic - Borussia Dortmund, Germany)
Paul Scholes (England - Manchester United, England)
Clarence Seedorf (Netherlands - AC Milan, Italy)
Yourkas Seitaridis (Greece - Porto, Portugal)
Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine - AC Milan, Italy)
Francesco Totti (Italy - AS Roma, Italy)
Ruud van Nistelrooy (Netherlands - Manchester United, England)
Vicente (Spain - Valencia, Spain)
Patrick Vieira (France - Arsenal, England)
Thodoris Zagorakis (Greece - Bologna, Italy)
Zinedine Zidane (France - Real Madrid, Spain)

The draw was made yesterday for the second round of the FA Cup.

The ties - drawn by Norman Whiteside and Kevin Ratcliffe who were opponents in the 1985 Final between Manchester United and Everton - are as follows:

Northampton Town v Bury
Halifax Town v Chester City
Stockport County v Swansea City
Blackpool v Port Vale
Rushden & Diamonds v Manfield Town or Colchester United
Forest Green Rovers or Bournemouth v Bristol Rovers or Carlisle United
Hinkley United v Bristol City or Brentford
Cambridge City v Milton Keynes Dons
Swindon Town v Notts County
Hull City v Alfreton Town or Macclesfield Town
Wycombe Wanderers v Luton Town
Slough Town v Yeading
Scunthorpe United v Wrexham
Histon v Darlington or Yeovil Town
Stevenage Borough v Rochdale
Hartlepool United v Aldershot Town
Oldham Athletic v Leyton Orient
Hereford United v Boston United
Peterborough United v Bath City
Exeter City v Doncaster Rovers

The matches are due to be played on the weekend of the 3/4/5 December.

Dragons face winding-up order

Wrexham play Hayes in the FA Cup today. Next Saturday there is a possibility that they may not exist. On Wednesday they face a winding-up petition brought by the Inland Revenue.

Hopes of reprieve were dashed this week when owner Alex Hamilton rejected a supporters’ group’s “second and final offer” of more than £2.5million to buy the club, leaving Wales’ oldest club on the brink of administration or liquidation.

The Wrexham Daily Post believes Mr Hamilton is considering an offer from former business partner and ex-Wrexham chairman Mark Guterman.

Charles Wardle, a board member of the Wrexham Supporters Trust, told a public meeting at the North East Wales Institute this week that Mr Hamilton would take advice from commercial agents DTZ on the value of Wrexham’s Racecourse home before deciding whether to sell.

Mr Wardle explained:

“If DTZ’s valuation far outweighs Mr Guterman’s offer, Mr Hamilton is going to reject it. Hamilton has told me he is ready to do a deal but only if he gets a serious pay day. He told me he is loath to sell to Guterman. If no deal is done ahead of next week, he has said he is ready for liquidation.”

Trust board members urged the club’s directors, Dave Bennett and Dave Griffiths, to take Wrexham into administration as this would avoid liquidation in the High Court.

Latvian club set new European record

Latvia’s Skonto Riga set a new European record yesterday when they secured their 14th consecutive domestic league title.

Skonto moved back ahead of Norwegian club Rosenborg BK who recently clinched their 13th national title.

They went in to the final round of matches three points ahead of nearest challengers FHK Liepajas Metalurgs and more than won the point they needed with a 6-0 hammering of SK Ditton Daugavpils.

On Monday, the Latvia Football Federation revealed that Skonto coach Jurijs Andrejevs is likely to succeed Aleksandrs Starkovs as the country’s national coach.