Goal machine Ronaldo seals another Real victory

Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo made it nine goals in seven games by bagging a brace as Real Madrid's 'Galacticos' defeated 10-man Marseille 3-0 on Tuesday in their first Champions League match in front of their Santiago Bernabeu crowd. It means Real have now won all seven of their matches this season, two in the Champions League and five in the league, and sit top of Group C with a maximum six points.

Real blitzed Marseille with three goals in six minutes; Ronaldo, who now has four Champions League goals in two games, scored two and won the penalty that led to the other. "Cristiano is a player that can make a difference at any moment and is always capable of scoring a goal," said stand-in captain Guti. "We want to try and get through this group as soon as possible by winning it. For now we have a big league game on Sunday against Sevilla who are on a roll but then so are we."

Marquee summer signing Ronaldo opened the scoring on 58 minutes and then won a spot-kick three minutes later which saw Marseille centre-back Souleymane Diawara dismissed for a second yellow card. Kaka converted the penalty kick and Ronaldo struck again in the 64th minute to show why Real paid a world record 94 million euros for his services.

Ronaldo went off shortly after his second goal with a knock to his right ankle which makes him a doubt for Sunday's match with Sevilla. AC Milan's shock 1-0 defeat at home to FC Zurich gives Real a three-point lead in the group and Madrid now have a double-header against Milan starting at home on October 21.

"We are scoring goals and not conceding them, which is always good," said Xabi Alonso. "We have two games against Milan now which will test us. The first game is at home so we have to make that advantage count." Captain Raul, the all-time top-scorer in the Champions League, had to be content with a place on the substitutes' bench as new French star Karim Benzema started against his compatriots.

Ronaldo and Kaka joined Benzema in an attacking trident with Xabi Alonso and Fernando Gago employed in defensive midfield. There were familiar faces to the Real fans in the Marseille line-up as Argentine defender Gabriel Heinze and veteran striker Fernando Morientes returned to their old stomping ground.

Heinze spent two seasons at the club before being let go by incoming coach Manuel Pellegrini in the summer while Morientes won three Champions League titles with Real and was given a warm welcome from the home fans. Off the pitch there was a beefed-up police presence, after Marseille's last visit to Madrid saw them clash with baton-wielding riot police at the Vicente Calderon during a group match with Atletico Madrid.

There was no repeat of those ugly scenes, though, and the match took centre stage although it was a low-key opening from Real, who only had a half-chance from Sergio Ramos to show from the first 20 minutes. Marseille, fourth in their domestic league, had a chance of their own on the quarter-hour mark but Iker Casillas was on his toes and raced out to swipe the ball from visiting captain Mamadou Niang.

On 26 minutes the Senegalese star skipped past Pepe but had to shoot from an acute angle and Casillas was on hand again to save with his chest. It was a warning that appeared to spur Real into action and Benzema went agonisingly close twice. First of all the ex-Lyon striker saw a brilliant overhead kick go just over and was then thwarted in a one-on-one by goalkeeper Steve Mandanda.

In the second half Real found their stride and took the lead through a route-one goal, with Pepe's long ball finding Ronaldo who carefully placed a low shot beneath the advancing Mandanda. The former Manchester United man then drew a foul from Diawara which earned the defender a second yellow card and allowed Kaka to put Real 2-0 up with a confidently taken penalty. Ronaldo continued his rich vein of form in front of goal with an easy tap-in to wrap up the game after slick inter-play between Benzema and Kaka.

Ronaldo, Kaka give Real 2-0 win at Villarrea

A superb early goal from Cristiano Ronaldo and a second-half Kaka penalty gave Real Madrid a 2-0 win at 10-man Villarreal in La Liga on Wednesday. Real paid around 160 million euros ($236 million) for the Portuguese winger and Brazilian playmaker in the close season, including a world record 94 million euros for Ronaldo, and the gulf in class was evident from the start.

The home side were rocked back in the second minute when Ronaldo sped down the left wing, cut inside and struck with a low shot from just outside the penalty area for his fifth league goal in four matches. Villarreal defender Gonzalo Rodriguez was sent off 10 minutes before the break, earning a second yellow card for catching Kaka in the chest with a reckless flying kick.

Kaka stepped up to double Real's lead in the 73rd minute when the referee ruled Angel Lopez had handled Marcelo's cross and Gonzalo Higuain and Ronaldo both went close as Real pressed for a third. Their fourth win out of four put them level on 12 points with champions Barcelona, who thrashed Racing Santander 4-1 on Tuesday thanks to two goals from Lionel Messi and one apiece from Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Gerard Pique.

Ronaldo scored inside the first minute in Sunday's 5-0 rout of promoted Xerez and he said his early goal on Wednesday had thrown Villarreal off their stride. "They are difficult to beat at home but we managed it and after Kaka's goal we were more in control," he told reporters. At the Calderon, Atletico Madrid conceded an equaliser in the 89th minute to draw 2-2 with Almeria, increasing the pressure on coach Abel Resino with his side on just two points from four matches.

Athletic Bilbao missed their chance to make it four wins out of four when they lost 1-0 at promoted Tenerife and Manu del Moral scored twice and Pedro Leon curled in a stunning freekick as Getafe came from a goal down to beat visiting Valencia 3-1. Uruguayan striker Diego Forlan missed a first-half penalty for Atletico before Almeria took the lead in the 26th minute when Albert Crusat found space on the left and crossed for Pablo Piatti to finish past Roberto.

Cleber Santana equalised and a defensive error let Forlan to give Atletico the lead 10 minutes into the second half. Piatti then grabbed his second to secure a point for Hugo Sanchez's side and Atletico's players and staff were whistled from the pitch by their disgruntled fans.

Messi pushes formidable Barca to the summit

Champions Barcelona moved back to the top of the Spanish table with a thumping 4-1 win at Racing Santander on Tuesday to maintain their perfect start to the season. Argentine Lionel Messi scored a brace, including a brilliant solo goal, making him the league's top-scorer with five goals while Zlatan Ibrahimovic continued his record of scoring in every game and now has four to his name.

It is a maximum 12 points from four games for Barcelona representing their best start since the 1997/98 season. Real Madrid can move level on points with Barca if they can win at Villarreal on Wednesday. Barca blitzed Atletico Madrid at the weekend with four goals inside the first 41 minutes and did the trick again in Santander establishing a three-goal lead by the 26th minute.

A destructive six-minute spell saw Ibrahimovic open the scoring in the 20th minute to maintain his goal a game record. Three minutes later Messi exchanged passes with Xavi before curling into the corner for his fourth goal of the season. Gerard Pique, getting a reputation for a goalscoring defender, netted the third on 26 minutes after a great touch from Ibrahimovic.

It could have been more in a one-sided first-half with Ibrahimovic hitting the post and Messi having a goal ruled out for offside. Ibrahimovic had to go off in the second half because of a twisted ankle with Pedro coming on in in his place. Messi then wriggled past three defenders to score his second goal of the game before Oscar Serrano netted a consolation goal.

Sevilla notched a third successive win to join Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao on nine points after defeating Real Mallorca 2-0 at home on Tuesday. Mallorca could have gone top of the table with a victory but Sevilla were a cut above and took the spoils thanks to first-half goals from Sebastian Squillaci and Argentine Diego Perotti.

Sevilla welcomed back Brazilian international Luis Fabiano but it was French centre-back Squillaci who surprisingly opened the scoring after 17 minutes. It was a goal made in France with Julien Escude heading the ball across goal for compatriot Squillaci to head in off the underside of the crossbar. The second goal was created brilliantly by Fabiano and Jesus Navas who crossed for Perotti to head home from close range.

Mallorca had a golden chance to make it 2-1 close to half-time but Fernando Varela was foiled by Andres Palop. Brazilian Adriano almost made it 3-0 minutes after the interval but a last-ditch block denied him a brilliant solo goal. Sevilla climb to third with their third consecutive victory while Mallorca lie sixth after their first defeat of the campaign.

"We were 2-0 up and could have scored two more but then we relaxed," said Sevilla coach Manolo Jimenez. "We can't afford to do that because games can last 90 or sometimes 95 minutes and you have to play right until the end."

Real Madrid's expensive 'Galacticos' face their hardest test so far with a trip to Villarreal on Wednesday as coach Manuel Pellegrini goes back to his old club. "It is a joy to go back to Villarreal," said Pellegrini. "There were five years at a great club and I met some fantastic people. The fans always treated me well during my time there and I hope I get a good reception."

Pellegrini has guided Real to three straight victories while his successor at Villarreal Ernesto Valverde has yet to win a game. Atletico Madrid, another team looking for a top four spot, have also had a nervy start with just one point from nine ahead of Wednesday's home match against Almeria. Coach Abel Resino got the dreaded vote of confidence from Atletico president Enrique Cerezo this week following the 5-2 humiliation by Barcelona over the weekend.

Rampant Chelsea make it six in a row

Chelsea extended their 100 percent record under Carlo Ancelotti as goals from Ashley Cole, Michael Ballack and Didier Drogba gave them a comfortable 3-0 victory over London rivals Tottenham at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. The win was enough to lift them back above Manchester United to the summit of the Premier League, three points ahead of their rivals, who had briefly gone top with a 4-3 win over Manchester City earlier in the day.

Tottenham were second best but left having lost more than three points as defenders Ledley King and Sebastien Bassong both suffered serious-looking injuries. Drogba, along with Jose Bosingwa, had returned to the home line-up following midweek Champions League suspension, with Branislav Ivanovic and Salomon Kalou making way.

Chelsea almost opened the scoring in the eighth minute when right-back Bosingwa latched on to Ballack's header and fired in a shot from the edge of the area. Tottenham goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini, the ex-Chelsea man, was relieved to see the ball rebound back into play off top of his near post. Jermain Defoe should have given Tottenham the lead three minutes later though when he was played through by Wilson Palacios's fine ball.

The England marksman already has five Premier League goals to his name this season but this time was denied by the boot of Petr Cech, the Chelsea goalkeeper. Cech was needed again to deflect away Tom Huddlestone's long-ranger, which caught him by surprise, and Jermaine Jenas fired wide by the most slender of margins from the next attack. Chelsea's reply was a header from Frank Lampard that wasn't far away either and an effort from Nicolas Anelka that fizzed into the side-netting.

The home side's appeals for a penalty when Vedran Corluka and Ballack collided in the box were ignored by referee Howard Webb but the reprieve was short-lived for the Croatia defender as Chelsea scored seconds later. Drogba fired in a cross from the right that was met by Cole's diving header, with the left-back having stolen in ahead of Corluka.

The second half began with Lampard scuffing a good chance wide but there was trouble for Tottenham when centre-back King's already-damaged knee failed him and he was replaced by Alan Hutton. Webb had another decision to make when Ricardo Carvalho challenged Robbie Keane in the Chelsea box. Again he ruled no penalty should be awarded although the defender appeared to clip Keane.

Chelsea doubled their lead through Ballack straight afterwards. Anelka's cross was chested down by Drogba and Cudicini could not hold on to the low shot that followed. Lampard was first to the loose ball and set up the German for a tap-in. Further disaster for Corluka and Cudicini followed when Cole's long ball over the top sent Drogba clear of the Croatian, who had switched to centre-back in King's absence.

Out came Cudicini only for Corluka to divert the ball past him and Drogba collect it for another tap-in. Cudicini almost cost Tottenham another when he let slip a shot from John Obi Mikel, who had come on for Ballack, but the Italian just managed to claw it away before it trundled over the line. Yet there was further misery for Spurs when Bassong fell heavily and had to be stretchered off, a fate that then befell Drogba five minutes before the end.

Arsenal thrash Wigan 4-0, Liverpool win at West Ham

Arsenal bounced back from two successive Premier League defeats in emphatic style by thrashing Wigan Athletic 4-0 at the Emirates on Saturday while Liverpool triumphed 3-2 at West Ham United. Belgian centre back Thomas Vermaelen got two for Arsenal in a one-sided affair while Fernando Torres grabbed a double as Liverpool overcame a West Ham side who twice came from behind.

Aston Villa also gained ground on the leaders with a 2-0 home win over Portsmouth, who are still without a point after six games. Promoted Burnley's good start continued when they beat Sunderland 3-1 with two goals on debut from on-loan striker David Nugent, Birmingham City beat Hull City 1-0 away while Bolton Wanderers and Stoke City drew 1-1.

Liverpool and Villa move on to 12 points -- joining Manchester United, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur --while Chelsea lead the way with a maximum 15 points. There are four games on Sunday, including the Manchester derby and Chelsea versus Spurs at Stamford Bridge. Arsenal began the day nine points behind Chelsea having lost to Manchester United and City in their last two games but were back to their imperious best on home soil.

Their early control was rewarded after 25 minutes when Vermaelen headed in a corner. Vermaelen, already looking an astute summer signing after joining from Ajax Amsterdam for a reported 10 million pounds ($16.35 million), doubled the lead with a superbly taken left footed curler four minutes into the second half.

Emmanuel Eboue got the third on the hour when he diverted an Eduardo Da Silva shot after the Croatian's initial effort came back from a post. Cesc Fabregas, limping heavily, backheeled the fourth in the last minute to take Arsenal's goal tally to 17 in five league games - only three of them wins. "We scored four today and we could have scored more. That shows we have potential," manager Arsene Wenger told reporters.

"It is good for the confidence of the team that we didn't concede and I think we will be more solid as we get used to the way we want to play. "I believe we have produced quality performances since the start of the season but weren't rewarded twice. "Today we have shown attitude quality, fluency and I'm very optimistic there is something special in this team."

Liverpool went ahead after 20 minutes when Fernando Torres burst through in the area but West Ham, with only one win over the visitors in nine years, equalised with an Alessandro Diamanti penalty after Zavon Hines, who hit a post early on, was brought down by Jamie Carragher.

Dirk Kuyt restored their lead after 41 minutes when he diverted a Steven Gerrard header into the net only for Carlton Cole to level again at the end of the half with a sharp glancing header. Liverpool gradually exerted more and more pressure in the second half and took the points when Torres nodded in Ryan Babel's cross after 75 minutes.

Lionel Messi sparks five-goal Barcelona to victory

Argentine star Lionel Messi celebrated his new deal with Barcelona by scoring twice in the European champions' 5-2 win over floundering Atletico Madrid on Saturday. Messi signed a two-year contract extension on Friday which will keep him at the club until 2016, with a buy-out clause rising from 150 million to an even more staggering 250 million euros.

He showed his value to the defending champions on Saturday as Barcelona made it three wins in three games to stay top of the table. Having failed to record a win so far this season the signs were ominous for Atletico ahead of their visit to the Nou Camp, and with memories of their 5-1 defeat by Barca in their last visit to Catalonia still fresh, they quickly went behind after a good finish from Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

In an open game, Messi then scored the first of a brace, rounding the keeper after being put clear by Xavi Hernandez. Atletico too had their chances though with Dmytro Chygrynskiy having a rocky home debut at centre half. Maxi Rodriguez and Jose Jurado had chances to pull a goal back before a Dani Alves free-kick and a Seydou Keita tap-in gave Barca a 4-0 advantage.

A poor header from Sergio Busquets set up Sergio Aguero who pulled a goal back before half-time. Barcelona took their foot off the pedal after the break but continued to control the game except for rare counter-attacks from Atletico, one of which, leading to a Diego Forlan goals six minutes from time.

Messi though completed the scoring during injury time. New signing Alvaro Negredo scored his first goal for Sevilla, who gave further evidence that they will be a force to reckon with this season as they beat Osasuna 2-0. It was over 15 years since Sevilla last won in Pamplona but the Osasuna defence struggled with the power and strength of Negredo and Frederic Kanoute from the start - the Malian hitting the crossbar mid-way through the first half.

Osasuna did enjoy some possession if few chances and it was Negredo, supplied by Adriano Correia, who put the visitors ahead after 36 minutes. In the second half Walter Pandiani missed a glorious chance to equalise before Kanoute doubled Sevilla's advantage and secured the victory. Late on Sergio Fernandez was dismissed for a strong challenge on Diego Perotti to add to Osasuna's woes.

Racing Santander came out on top with their clash with Malaga who will rue missed chances. The match finished 2-1 with Sergio Duda equalising a first half goal from Manuel Arana but Nasief Morris headed home the winner eleven minutes from time. The home forward line, and especially Edinho and Nabil Baha, will look back with regret though on their poor finishing.

Earlier Real Mallorca equalled their best ever start to a season with a convincing 4-0 win over newly promoted Tenerife. The Balearic Island side took the game to Tenerife from the start, going ahead after 16 minutes through Mario Suarez. With the ball loose in the penalty area following a corner, the midfielder was quickest to react and slotted home.

Tenerife fought back and had the chances to equalise before half-time notably for Richi Perez, who failed one-on-one with the keeper but in the second half Mallorca finished off the match. Artiz Aduriz completed a good move after 50 minutes and then eight minutes later Julio Alvarez was put through by Borja Valero and he beat the keeper clinically. Then two minutes before time a Pierre Webo penalty completed the rout.

After the match coach Gregorio Manzano claimed that his side were technically superior."We should not get carried away as in the first half Tenerife had a reasonable amount of possession. We changed our system in the second half and that was when Tenerife really struggled," he said.

Bottom side Espanyol managed their first win of the season, and their first goals, with a 3-2 away win at Deportivo la Coruna. Real Madrid spent heavily over the summer looking to bring an end to Barca's dominance.

While it had been said that Cristiano Ronaldo was feeling the pressure of expectancy after his high-profile move from Manchester United his two goals for Real in their midweek Champions League victory over FC Zurich will have worked well to take the pressure off his shoulders. As the team prepare to face Xerez on Sunday the bad news is that they will be without Xabi Alonso for up to ten days with a calf injury.

Barcelona held to 0-0 draw at Inter Milan

Defending champion Barcelona was held to a 0-0 draw by Inter Milan to start their Champions League campaign Wednesday, as the matchup between Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Samuel Eto'o against their former teams fizzled out to a rain-soaked stalemate. Ibrahimovic and Lionel Messi had good chances to break the deadlock in the first half, but the rugged Inter defense stopped the Spaniards from building any attacking momentum in the second.

Inter came close twice in the second half, with Wesley Sneijder and substitute Dejan Stankovic narrowly missing the target with their efforts. Barcelona started the Group F match the brighter of the two teams. He went on a dribbling run in the second minute past Lucio and Javier Zanetti, but goalkeeper Julio Cesar saved the shot.

In his first match back at the San Siro, Ibrahimovic's first touch of the ball was greeted with a chorus of whistles from Inter's fans but they dissipated as the match went on. The Sweden forward had a great scoring chance in the seventh minute. Daniel Alves chipped over the defense to him, but Ibrahimovic hit his volley high and wide with only Cesar to beat.

A minute later, Messi's header forcing Cesar to react quickly to the danger after Alves had crossed to the Argentine at the far post. Neither team was able to take control of the match, with a number of promising moves breaking down as players drifted offside and passes failed to reach their intended target.

Diego Milito had Inter's best chance in the 28th. Cesar punted down field and Barcelona's defense failed to react, allowing the former Genoa striker to cut inside Gerard Pique to shoot, but goalkeeper Victor Valdes dived low to save the shot. Barcelona came close to scoring twice more before halftime. In the 41st, Xavi chipped the ball to Alves in the area. The Brazilian pulled it back to Seydou Keita, but the Malian hit a weak shot and Cesar scrambled to make the save.

Then, with one minute remaining in the half, Messi produced a typical run off the right wing, hit a powerful drive but again Cesar came to Inter's rescue, acrobatically pushing the ball away for a corner. Inter went close in the 47th when Eto'o rolled the ball across the edge of the area to Sneijder, whose shot went just wide of the post.

Barcelona continued to play its short passing game but was often crowded out by Inter's defense. Inter's Thiago Motta put Xavi under pressure in central midfield, with fullbacks Cristian Chivu and Maicon limiting Messi's and Thierry Henry's runs. Even the introduction of Andres Iniesta failed to spark Barcelona, while neither Messi and Xavi managed to exert a telling influence toward the end of the match.

Ronaldo, Kaka eye new golden Real Euro era

Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, who cost Real Madrid over 150 million euros, aim to lead the Spanish giants to a 10th European title this Ronaldo, Kaka season, with their campaign starting in the humble surroundings of FC Zurich on Tuesday. Ronaldo, the world's most expensive player, insists the historic winning mentality at the club will be key to driving them to a place in the Champions League final which will be staged at their Santiago Bernabeu home in May next year.

"This is a club used to winning, a lot of the players here are winners, but now it's about a new team and a new squad," said Ronaldo, keen to dismiss comparisons with the Galactico era. "That's why we have to create the right mentality for us to win the league, the Champions League and the cups. This is a club obsessed with winning and now the players here have to think the same way."

Real's last Champions League triumph came in 2002 and with bitter rivals Barcelona taking the title last season, the club's ambition has been sharpened further.Last season Real Madrid were beaten 5-0 on aggregate by Liverpool in the first knockout round. It was the fifth successive season they had lost out in the last 16.

"The ambition is to win the Champions League," said Kaka. "On top of that, you have the possibility of us being at home (in the final) and it would be fantastic to play the final at the Bernabeu." Real and FC Zurich have met once before in the competition but that was 45 years ago with the Spaniards winning 8-1 over two legs in the semi-final before losing to Inter Milan 3-1 in the final.

Defender Raul Albiol is a doubt for Real having twisted his ankle against Espanyol at the weekend while Pepe could make his first appearance this season. The Portuguese centre-back is suspended for two more games in the Spanish league - as part of a 10-match ban imposed last season for violent conduct - but is eligible to play in Europe.

Zurich reached this stage with a play-off defeat of FK Ventspils with Johan Vonlanthen, Silvan Aegerter and Dusan Djuric securing a 3-0 win in Latvia before second-leg strikes from Vonlanthen and Almen Abdi completed a 5-1 aggregate victory.

Williams sisters reach US Open doubles final

Serena and Venus Williams are back in the US Open women's doubles final for the first time in a decade. The fourth-seeded Americans beat No. 13-seeded Alisa Kleybanova and Ekaterina Makarova of Russia 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-2 in the semi-finals Thursday.

The Williams sisters are aiming for their 10th career Grand Slam doubles title as a pair and third this season. Their only US Open doubles championship came in 1999.

They are 9-0 in major doubles finals. The other semi-final, scheduled for Friday, pits the defending champions and top-seeded pair of Cara Black and Liezel Huber against the third-seeded team of Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs.

Federer reaches US Open semi-finals

Top seed and defending champion Roger Federer reached the US Open semi-finals on Wednesday by defeating Robin Soderling 6-0, 6-3, 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (8/6), but the Swede made him scrap for it after a dismal start. It will be a record 22nd consecutive appearance in a Grand Slam semi-final for the Swiss star who is also bidding to win a record-equalling sixth straight US Open title.

Federer will play Serbian fourth seed Novak Djokovic for a place in Sunday's final and the chance to win a 16th Grand Slam title, two more than all-time second best Pete Sampras. "It was so close towards the end and it's a great relief to come through because he played better and better as the game went on," he said.

"It was too easy at the start, but he battled his way back into it and showed what a great player he is. "It was cool when it started and being from Switzerland that was OK with me, but then it got cooler and him being from Sweden that was in his favour."

Soderling had two break points on Federer's opening serve but after failing to convert either of those, he was simply blown away by the artistry and power of the Swiss star's game. The first set was wrapped up in just 26 minutes with Soderling left shaking his head at his own inability to do anything about stopping the onslaught.

Soderling, who lost to Federer in the French Open final after pulling off the upset of the year by ending Rafael Nadal's reign at Roland Garros, finally opened his account by holding serve to draw level 1-1 in the second set. The big Swede stayed with Federer until 2-2, but then dropped serve for a fourth time and Federer raced away to take the set 6-3 after a bout of racquet-smashing from his frustrated opponent.

The third set saw Soderling steady the sinking ship and he even had two break points to lead 4-2, but they both were rubbed out by big serves from Federer. He did succeed in dragging Federer into a tie-break but fell quickly behind 4-0. It looked all over, but with nothing to lose, and finally unleashing his big serves and forehands, Soderling clawed his way back into it from 2-5 down to force a fourth set by taking the tie-break 8-6.

It was just the second set Soderling had taken off Federer in 12 matches dating back to 2004. There was just a hint of frustration from Federer over his inability to put Soderling away as the Swede stubbornly hung on to his serve in the fourth set to force a second tie-break. Both men sent down some big serves and Soderling had a set point at 6-5 to force a fifth set, but hit a forehand long and wide.

Federer then took the final two points of the match to chalk up his 40th straight win at Flushing Meadows, including one walkover. Turning to his semi-final against Djikovic, Federer said: "I've played him here the last couple of years, a final and a semi. "It will be a tough match and I am looking forward to it."

World Cup in sight for England, Serbia, Spain

England, Serbia, Spain and Slovakia can all book their places at next summer's World Cup in South Africa when European qualifying Spain players continues on Wednesday. England and Serbia have the most straightforward tasks, with both sides needing just a victory to secure top spot in their respective groups and subsequently progress to the finals.

Fabio Capello's England take on Croatia at Wembley, while Serbia welcome Raymond Domenech's under-achieving France to Belgrade.European champions Spain, meanwhile, can guarantee their passage only if they beat Estonia in Merida and second-placed Bosnia-Herzegovina fail to win at home to Turkey.Slovakia will qualify if they win in Northern Ireland and the match between Slovenia and Poland in Maribor ends in a draw.

A place in a fourth consecutive World Cup awaits England if they beat Croatia, but revenge is also likely to be a motivating factor for the home side.The Croats prevented England from qualifying for Euro 2008 by beating them 3-2 on a sodden November night at Wembley in 2007 and England midfielder Gareth Barry says the players will draw inspiration from that dispiriting defeat.

"There's a lot of players in that dressing room who won't forget that night at Wembley and we're back here again," said the Manchester City man."There'll be a few memories but it's a different manager and a different team and although it will be in the back of our minds, we'll be confident."

England's failure two years ago set in motion a chain of events that saw Capello replace Steve McClaren at the helm and the Italian has since overseen a run of seven straight competitive wins.Croatia, though, arrive desperate for points in their bid to finish ahead of third-placed Ukraine and coach Slaven Bilic has upped the ante by claiming that England have lost vital qualities under Capello.

"They are a very different team," said Bilic."They have some advantages but they are also missing something from their game. They are missing some Englishness, some of the things that have always made England teams difficult to defend against and play against," added Bilic, who spent four years in England playing for West Ham and Everton.

Croatia's Balkan neighbours Serbia go into their crunch clash with France in a far healthier position, four points clear of Domenech's men and with South Africa in sight.Radomir Antic's side will be just three points away from qualifying even if they only manage a draw on Wednesday, but Antic says they will not be playing it safe.

"We're not interested in any calculations, we got the result we wanted from the France v Romania match [1-1] and it's now our turn to prove our worth," said the former Atletico Madrid handler."We know who we're up against but we're improving all the time and we want to make an impact on the world soccer map, not just qualify for the World Cup."

France are not the only major nation in danger of missing out on qualification, as Portugal currently trail Group One leaders Denmark by seven points.The play-offs already look Portugal's most likely route to South Africa, but defeat to second-placed Hungary in Budapest on Wednesday would leave Cristiano Ronaldo
and co with only a mathematical chance of finishing second.

"We have to raise our heads and keep believing," said Portugal coach Carlos Queiroz. "The game is not over and while it lasts, we have to believe."Denmark can move to within three points of qualification if they win in Albania, while Group Two leaders Switzerland will also be within touching distance of the finals if they win in Latvia and Greece fail to beat Moldova.Elsewhere, Scotland can secure second place in Group Nine with a draw at home to Bert van Marwijk's already-qualified Netherlands.

Spain crush Belgium to near World Cup

European champions Spain moved to within touching distance of the World Cup finals after coasting to a 5-0 win over Belgium in La Coruna Spain on Saturday.Valencia duo David Silva and David Villa both scored twice with Barcelona defender Gerard Pique also on target in the five-goal romp and the scoreline should have been more emphatic.

The double from Villa, who also missed a penalty, raises his international goals tally to 33 in just 51 games as he closes in on the national record of 44 held by Real Madrid striker Raul. Spain have a flawless seven wins at the top of Group 5, six points ahead of second-placed Bosnia Herzegovina who won 2-0 at Armenia.

If Spain beat Estonia in Merida on Wednesday and Bosnia fail to beat Turkey they will qualify for the World Cup finals with two games to spare. "It was nice to win and get back scoring again (after three games without a goal)," said Villa.

"We started so well and should have been more than 1-0 up at the break. I missed my penalty although it was a bit unfortunate although I will be ready to take the next one that comes up." Silva added: "It was an important game to win and we did it well. I am coming back following injury and just hope I can continue injury-free for the rest of the season."

Villarreal midfielder Marcos Senna failed to recover from a knock sustained at the weekend so emerging Barcelona star Sergi Busquets, 21, won his seventh cap starting alongside Xabi Alonso in central midfield. Alonso's Real Madrid team-mate Alvaro Arbeloa was also handed a chance to impress at right-back with Sergio Ramos still injured.

Injuries meant Belgium had to hand a tough debut to goalkeeper Jean Francois Gillet. Gillet had a busy game throughout and Villa went close twice in the opening ten minutes. Villa zipped a low shot just wide of post in the eighth minute and then spurned a golden chance two minutes later with the debutant goalkeeper blocking his effort with his legs.

Belgium were struggling and Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen collected the first yellow card of the match for hacking down Fernando Torres. In the 21st minute Villa won a soft penalty by wrongfooting Anthony Vanden Borre and picked himself up for the spot-kick. The Valencia striker opted to strike his penalty down the middle and Gillet saved with his trailing foot.

Villa then hit the post before setting up Silva for the goal on 41 minutes with a delightful pass and Silva made no mistake with a clinical finish for only his fourth international goal. After a frustrating first half Villa got his goal four minutes after the break with a trademark right-footed finish.

Sixty seconds later centre-half Pique showed a striker's composure in the penalty area to make it 3-0 before Silva smashed in a terrific second goal. Villa grabbed the final goal of the game on 85 minutes as Spain tore the visitors apart on the counter attack. Belgium have just seven points so can forget the World Cup in South Africa while Spain are on the brink of qualifying and would go to the tournament as one of the favourites.

Messi best in the world right now

Although Kaka remains hopeful he will be crowned the best player in the world again, he acknowledges Lionel Messi deserves that title for now. "He is a player who makes a difference," Kaka said on Thursday, just two days before meeting Messi in a World Cup qualifier between South American rivals Brazil and Argentina. "I would vote for him for all he has done, leading Barcelona to all these titles."

Messi has never won FIFA's Player of the Year Award but he is considered a front-runner for this year's title. Kaka won it in 2007 and has constantly said his goal was to earn the prize again. "It remains my objective to get back there and win it," the Real Madrid midfielder said.

Kaka dismissed a duel with Messi when in the qualifier at Rosario on Saturday. "The media always talks about a duel, that was the case with me and Cristiano Ronaldo, too," Kaka said. "But on the field it's not like that. It will be Brazil vs. Argentina and both teams have several talented players on both sides."

Kaka, who will be making his 70th appearance for Brazil, said he sees himself with a little of the "art" of Argentina coach Diego Maradona and some of the "efficiency" of Brazil coach Dunga.

"I opted for a mix so I can be a complete player," Kaka said. "I'm not a great artist like Maradona was, I know my limitations and that talent alone is not enough. The ideal is to mix art and efficiency." Kaka is one goal shy of tying Romario and Zico as Brazil's leading scorers in World Cup qualifiers with 11 goals.

"It would be special to do it against Argentina," he said. "But there still are four matches left and hopefully I'll be able to reach that mark, which would be nice because I'm not really a true striker." Kaka said he was anxious about Real Madrid's upcoming encounter with former club AC Milan in the group stage of the Champions League.

"It will be the first time I play against a former club, so I don't know how it's going to be," Kaka said. "It's going to be a bit hard to play at San Siro (stadium), where the fans supported me for six years of my life and now they will be cheering against me."

Kaka said Real Madrid has a "very talented" group with "impressive" players in all positions, but it still needs to improve in order to play up to its full potential. "We have to improve a lot," Kaka said. "We need these talented players to become a group and achieve good results."

Brazil leads South American qualifying with 27 points, one more than Chile and three more than Paraguay. Argentina is fourth with 22. The top four automatically secure a spot in next year's World Cup in South Africa. Brazil, a five-time world champion, can clinch a spot if it beats Argentina and Colombia beats Ecuador and Uruguay fails to defeat Peru.

Sania-Francesca in US Open second round

Sania Mirza overcame from her defeat at the singles journey and has emerged victorious in the mixed doubles and women's doubles event of the US Open. The Indian tennis ace and Francesca Schiavone of Italy beat Ekaterina Dzehalevich and Renata Voracova 5-7, 7-5, 6-1 to enter the second round of the women's doubles of the US Open.

The pair will meet Gisela Dulko and Shahar Peer in the second round of the US Open. In the Mixed doubles event, Sania Mirza and Canada's Daniel Nestor beat Akgul Amanmuradova and Ashley Fisher 6-3, 6-1 to enter the second round.

On Wednesday, Sania Mirza's US Open singles campaign wilted in the second round with 10th seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta routing the Indian 6-0, 6-0 in a grossly lop-sided match. Earlier, India's Leander Paes and his Czech partner Lukas Dlouhy moved into the second round of the US Open men's doubles event with a win over Romanian pair of Victor Hanescue and Grabriel Trifu in first round.

Liverpool travel to Bolton on Saturday knowing they desperately need a victory to get their Premier League title challenge back on track.

Liverpool travel to Bolton on Saturday knowing they desperately need a victory to get their Premier League title challenge back on track. Rafael Benitez's side have lost two of their opening three matches to raise major doubts about their prospects of a first league crown since 1990.

The Reds finished just four points adrift of Manchester United last season and lost only two matches in the whole campaign. But, while Benitez's team ran Sir Alex Ferguson's team close last term, there is a concern among their supporters that if they allow an early gap to develop to the likes of Chelsea and United they will not be able to close it.

They can console themselves with the fact that in three of the last five seasons, the champions have lost a total of five games. The Anfield team accept there is now little margin for error if they are to end their long wait for a title. Pepe Reina has already conceded five goals in his side's 2-1 defeat at Tottenham and shock 3-1 loss to Aston Villa at Anfield on Monday.

But the Spanish goalkeeper believes that three consecutive wins would put Liverpool right back in the race for the championship. "The fans can trust us until the end because as a team we have always been strong," Reina said.

"Obviously we are disappointed because it is not normal for us to play three games and lose two of them, but we have to look forward, try to improve and carry on with our title challenge. "We are the same team as last season - the same team that won 86 points in the league.

"Nothing has changed except that some players have left and some have come in, but we are still a strong team. "We have plenty of good players in the dressing room and we have to look forward because as soon as we win two or three games in a row things will change a lot."

Liverpool picked up an impressive total of 86 points last season but Reina believes that improvements by Manchester City, Tottenham and Aston Villa will make it a more open division this time around. And he feels that will translate to the champions requiring fewer points this season.

He added: "Teams like Villa, Tottenham and Man City will be involved in the title race and I think the eventual champions will probably win no more than 82 points this season. "Tottenham are playing at a good level. They were probably better than us in the first game of the season, especially in the first half.

"But it is too early to speak about teams. We have to wait a little bit longer." The Reds are still without Italian midfielder Alberto Aquilani due to an ankle problem, but Greek defender Sotiros Kygiakos could make his debut after joining from AEK Athens last week.

Bolton have started the season with two defeats - to Sunderland and Hull - and have not managed to score. Defender Gary Cahill is hopeful that his team's improvements in performances will be translated into results following the 1-0 League Cup win over League One Tranmere in midweek.

He said: "We were better against Hull and kept a clean sheet against Tranmere. "We're at home and they'll be hungry. They've lost two out of three which is poor for them and they'll be looking to make that right.

"We've got nothing to lose and everything to gain. They're coming in needing to win to put their season back on track. "It's unheard of them starting this slowly. They've got quality players throughout but two teams have beaten them already so why can't we?"

Arsenal outclass Celtic in Champions League playoff

Arsenal eased into the group stages of the Champions League on Wednesday, outclassing Celtic 3-1 to enter Thursday's draw where they will be joined by Fiorentina, VfB Stuttgart, Olympiakos and APOEL Nicosia.

A harshly-awarded penalty converted by Eduardo after 28 minutes allowed Arsenal to build on their 2-0 victory in Glasgow in the first leg of their final playoff round tie last week. Emmanuel Eboue and Andrei Arshavin both scored after the break while Massimo Donati salvaged a little pride for the Scottish side with a stoppage-time volley.

The 5-1 aggregate victory for Arsenal by no means flattered the north London club who have started the season in impressive style, winning all their four games and scoring 15 goals in the process.

Serie A side Fiorentina squeezed through on away goals against Portugal's Sporting after a 1-1 home draw left the tie level at 3-3. Steven Jovetic equalised for Fiorentina on the night after Sporting had gone ahead on aggregate through Joao Moutinho.

Stuttgart were held 0-0 at home by Timisoara of Romania but progressed courtesy of their 2-0 away win last week. APOEL beat FC Copenhagen 3-1 for a 3-2 aggregate win while Greek side Olympiakos ended the dreams of Moldovans Sheriff Tirsaspol, completing a 3-0 aggregate win.

The 10 winners of the playoff ties will join the clubs who automatically qualified for the lucrative group stages, including holders Barcelona and runners-up Manchester United.

Liverpool slump to home defeat by Aston Villa

Liverpool lost for the second time in three Premier League matches on Monday, slumping to a 3-1 home defeat by Aston Villa. An own goal by Lucas Leiva and a glancing header from Curtis Davies gave Villa a 2-0 interval lead before Fernando Torres pulled one back for Liverpool in the 72nd minute.

Any hopes of a storming comeback were shortlived as Steven Gerrard rashly brought down midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker and Ashley Young beat keeper Pepe Reina from the penalty spot with 15 minutes remaining. With the season a week old Liverpool, runners-up to Manchester United last season, have already lost as many matches as they did in the whole of the previous campaign. It was also their first league defeat at Anfield since December 2007.

"The first 20 minutes we were alright but an own goal and another goal in (first half) extra time and then a penalty when I thought we were playing better and pushing hard, there were too many things against us," Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez told BBC radio.

Villa, who for much of last season looked capable of a top-four finish before running out of steam, were booed off after losing to Wigan Athletic at home last week but manager Martin O'Neill was delighted with their response. Liverpool dominated early but fell behind after 34 minutes when Young's free kick was headed into his own net by Lucas.

Worse was to follow on the stroke of halftime when Davies lost his marker in the area to glance in a corner that Liverpool protested should not have been awarded. The home side piled on the pressure in the second half and Dirk Kuyt hit the post with a header before Torres beat Villa keeper Brad Friedel with a sharp finish.

Gerrard's rush of blood to the head completed a miserable night for Liverpool as his tackle allowed Young to seal Villa's first league win at Anfield for eight years.

Rooney and Owen get five-star United back on track

Manchester United made amends for their humbling by Burnley as Wayne Rooney's double and Michael Owen's first goal for the Premier League champions inspired a 5-0 win at Wigan on Saturday. Sir Alex Ferguson reacted to Wednesday's shock 1-0 loss at newly-promoted Burnley by making seven changes and the United manager was rewarded with a superb second half display. It took the revamped United line-up a while to find their rhythm but, after a goalless first half, Rooney struck in the 56th minute when he met a cross from former Wigan winger Antonio Valenica with a perfect header.

That was Rooney's 100th goal for United and it opened the floodgates. Dimitar Berbatov put United in complete control in the 58th minute. The Bulgarian finished a flowing move by chipping over Chris Kirkland and shooting into an empty net. Rooney ended any doubts about the result in the 65th minute when his shot deflected off Mario Melchiot and flashed past the wrong-footed Kirkland.

Owen, signed from Newcastle in the close-season, came off the bench to score for the first time since Janaury with a sublime clipped finish. Nani, who set up Owen's goal, got on the scoresheet himself in the 90th minute. Arsenal maintained their impressive start to the season with a 4-1 victory over struggling Portsmouth at the Emirates Stadium.

The Gunners had confounded critics who wrote off their title hopes by thrashing Everton 6-1 last weekend, then winning at Celtic in the Champions League in midweek. Wenger still made four changes to the side that beat Celtic, but it proved a successful move as French midfielder Abou Diaby, brought into the team for his 100th Arsenal appearance, opened the scoring in the 18th minute from Eduardo's pass.

Diaby converted Emmanuel Eboue's cross for his second goal three minutes later but Portsmouth reduced the deficit when Younes Kaboul, out-jumping keeper Manuel Almunia, headed home in the 37th minute. Any hopes of a fightback from Paul Hart's team were ended in the 51st minute through William Gallas's scrambled effort. Aaron Ramsey confirmed Portsmouth's third successive defeat in the 68th minute with his first league goal for Wenger's team.

Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor repaid another slice of his 25 million pounds transfer fee as the Togo star's cool finish sealed a 1-0 win over Wolverhampton at Eastlands. City handed Carlos Tevez his full debut and the former Manchester United forward's cushioned 17th-minute pass picked out Adebayor, who drove in his second goal in two games since joining City from Arsenal. Trinidad and Tobago forward Kenwyne Jones fired Sunderland to a 2-1 victory over Blackburn.

Sam Allardyce's Rovers, without defender Stephen Warnock as rumours of a move to Aston Villa gathered momentum, took the lead in the 21st minute when French defender Gael Givet smashed a long-range effort past Marton Fulop. But Sunderland equalised after 32 minutes as Jones took advantage of a slip by Christopher Samba to slot home.

Jones wasn't finished there. In the 53rd minute he met Lee Cattermole's cross with a bullet header to seal the points for Steve Bruce's team. Hull won the first time in 13 league matches as Algeria striker Kamel Ghilas's first goal for the club earned a 1-0 victory over Bolton at the KC Stadium. Ghilas was making his first start for the Tigers after signing from Spanish club Celta Vigo earlier this month.

He marked the occasion in the 61st minute goal with a blistering volley from Jozy Altidore's pass. Stoke recovered from their midweek thrashing by Liverpool by grinding out a 0-0 draw at Birmingham. Tony Pulis's side went down 4-0 at Anfield but they were far more resilient in a scrappy encounter against newly-promoted City.

Easy blackjack money

No game guarantees you the first place. No online game will guarantee you the winner title. Even those who spend years practicing have a chance to lose. If we talk about blackjack - well, it is a great combination of skill and luck. But you should not think that there is nothing you can do to give yourself a possibility to win if you don't consider yourself too lucky. We will share our top 5 advices with you. Those five will help you gain more money playing blackjack.

1: One of the most important aspects of the blackjack game is the game choice. Don't get it twisted thinking that blackjack is a standard game. There are lots of variations of it. Players usually stick to their favorite game, the one that brings them more money. However we would not recommend playing one and same game all the time. Sometimes it makes perfect sense to try your luck with another type. It is also recommended to try different variants of the same game just to keep your interest alive.

2: If you are the type of player that needs a real casino instead an online one - you better secure yourself with a club card. Player's club cards give you lots of privilege. These privileges could decrease your expenses in the casino, which is always favorable. What will a player's club card do for you? It will grant you free meals and maybe a free room on some occasions. This is one way of making your game give you some benefits. Plus, on the unfortunate event that you lose your seed money, at least you get to eat and sleep for free! That's a definite plus.

3: If the game doesn't look too bright or if your position in the game requires you to come back another time - you should really stop at 17. But you should remember that this will only work in the case of no low cards appearing on the table yet. Which also means the next low card could be yours which you do not want. You should consider various combinations where you can re-split or double down your cards.

4: Don't go crazy with bets. I know sometimes it seems like the one that bets more wins more but this theory could be false. People make big bets in order to impress others around; they want to make others bet much as well. If you plan to use some kind of Blackjack system, don't make it your Bible. There is no one foolproof method for winning in Blackjack. If there was, then the person that created it would definitely not be selling it to you for a few dollars. Why would they do it?

5: The fifth advice would be not to believe those silly stories about counting cards in blackjack as it is never the case. If you are some kind of a math genius, you may try that one for a change but trust me; most of us won't be able to count it up.

Another important note to consider would be not let anybody rush you or tell you how to play. As long as you know exactly what you are doing - you are safe. If you don't trust yourself with cards and you know you can put too much at steak - don't enter the casino. Please remember that games were made for people to entertain themselves. Nobody should get paranoid about them or stressed.

Know your budget when you play. Don't ever let the casino control your life, you should control it. We wish you good luck with it and hope our advices helped you to know more about the blackjack game.

It is very difficult to replace Ronaldo: Lampard

Manchester United would have to sign Barcelona star Lionel Messi if they ever hoped to fill the hole left by Cristiano Ronaldo, says Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard. Ronaldo ended his five-year spell with United when he moved to Real in the summer as the Spanish giants launch an expensive rebuilding process after playing second fiddle in the popularity stakes to arch rivals Barcelona.

But Lampard believes United's loss could be the Premier League's gain as the fight for the league trophy is now somewhat closer. "It is very difficult to replace Ronaldo," Lampard told the club's website. "I saw Alex Ferguson say that himself and I don't think he will look to replace him. He will look to make the team strong as a whole by not having him. That is the only thing they can do.

"The amount of times I flicked on the telly and saw Ronaldo had scored and they had won one or two-nil. (Lionel) Messi is probably the only player you could replace Ronaldo with. "That is probably one of our big pluses this year - we didn't lose our big players."

Lampard believes that without Ronaldo at United the league race is now closer. That belief was backed by United's 1-0 defeat to league newcomers Burnley on Wednesday. Lampard added: "The league is probably closer now, which has been a bit of a natural thing over the past few years.

"In United's case, you don't want to draw the promoted teams so early in the season. They come out of the blocks to try and get some points. It (the defeat to Burnley) wasn't completely unexpected. I thought it might be a difficult game for them."

Tottenham sit ahead of Chelsea in the league after two games thanks to superior goal difference while Arsenal, because of their Champions League duties in midweek, have played only one game and sit in third on three points. While Spurs and Chelsea have won both their games so far, Liverpool and United have won one from two.

Federer, Nadal, Murray nab quarter-final berths

World number one Roger Federer was nearly blown off track by blustery winds, while Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal steered a steady course into the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati Masters on Thursday. Swiss top seed Federer rallied for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Spain's David Ferrer, conquering not only the world number 19 but also blustery winds to line up a meeting with Aussie Lleyton Hewitt.

Despite the difficult conditions, the top four seeds all advanced to the quarter-finals. Murray, whose run to the title in Montreal last week saw him seize the world number two ranking from Nadal, defeated Czech Radek Stepanek 6-4, 6-1.

Nadal, the second seed despite his current No.3 world ranking, downed France's Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-5, 6-2, and fourth-seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic advanced with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over France's Jeremy Chardy. Federer stretched his career lead over Ferrer to 9-0, but for a while it looked like the Spaniard might notch that first win against his mighty opponent.

He broke Federer for a 5-3 lead, then held at love to pocket the first set. Federer went down an early break in the third, but this time he immediately broke back and cruised home from there. Federer admitted that he wasn't sure his tried-and-true formula of staying calm in the face of adversity would allow him to turn things around this time.

"Today I didn't think I was going to because I thought David was playing a great match," Federer admitted. "That's why the satisfaction is maybe greater now." Federer said he struggled in the early going with his footwork - a key in the windy, unpredictable conditions.

"I think I got it together and started to play better and better," he said. "In the end when it goes your way, all of a sudden you can actually use the wind to your advantage in a big way." Federer, who lost in the quarter-finals of the Montreal Masters last week, was delighted to be looking forward to another match.

After notching his first career French Open crown and then taking his Grand Slam tally to a record 15 at Wimbledon, Federer took some time off as he and his wife, Mirka, welcomed the birth of twin daughters. "That's why this win today was perfect," he said. "Gives me another opportunity to play another match."

Murray said he knew before he took the court that patience would be crucial. "I saw a little bit of Federer's match before I was going on," he said. "You know, you can't play to the lines. You're going to mis-hit some shots. It's just important to not get too frustrated."

Nadal, who missed Wimbledon in a break of more than two months because of tendinitis in both knees, looked sharper than he had last week in Montreal - where he lost in the quarter-finals - or in his opener here against Andreas Seppi. "Very pleased with my performance," he said. "I think I played much better than yesterday."

In Friday's quarters, Federer will face an old rival in Australian veteran Hewitt, who overcame American Sam Querrey 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 to earn a shot at the Swiss superstar. "He's the benchmark," Hewitt said. "He's obviously the in-form player at the moment and the guy to beat on any surface, especially after winning the two last big majors.

"We have had so many big matches over the years in a lot of situations. It's always a privilege to play Roger." Murray will face French lucky loser Julien Benneteau, a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) winner over Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez.

Nadal will face Czech Tomas Berdych, who beat Aussie Chris Guccione 6-4, 6-3, while Djokovic will tackle another Frenchman, ninth-seeded Gilles Simon, who downed eighth-seeded Russian Nikolay Davydenko 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 6-4.

Basic set of rules to online gambling newbies

If you're playing games that have to do with some kind of luck (like online poker or online blackjack) there is a certain set of rules that will make your playing experience a lot more effective and exciting. You haven't follow these rules strictly, but you will see that they really can help if taken into account and will save you a lot of time and stress if applied during your gaming process. The games you play, your experience or bankroll do not affect the way you should use these tips as they are of universal effectiveness and can be applied in most gaming situations. So here we go:

• Learn the rules before actually playing a game. That is a must when thinking of playing just any game at the casino. First, you have to clearly understand the rules behind the game and make sure you understand all the terminology. You can't play blackjack if you can't count to 21. Just imagine going to a business meeting where everyone's speaking Japanese (and you don't understand any single word out of it). The same thing hare. And there's really no excuse in not knowing the rules with some many free online casinos out there today, where you can practice as much as you want.


• Keep a slow pace of your gaming process. Don't net everything you have in the first 15 minutes, because gambling is about the fun of playing, not spending all you got as fast as you can. Make sure you follow your own rhythm and have something to gamble with after and hour or two into the game.


• Define your playing budget. You will have to set the maximum amount of money you can afford losing during the nigh. And don't spend even a penny over this amount. Forget about your credit card and leave it at home, because the temptation of withdrawing more money will be very strong, and if you will actually do it you will have to deal with even a larger sum of money lost and all the hassle behind it.


• Don't try to outplay your losses. Of course the temptation of winning over your losses with larger bets will be high, but it's definitely not the smartest thing to do. In fact, it will make the things even worse. In this case it is better to switch the table or the game altogether and start all over if you are still within your budget.


• Avoid distractions. It is important to keep the focus on your gaming process. Because a simple and stupid mistake can result in a big loss. And that's really disappointing.


• Don't push yourself too hard. Taking breaks is very important because it helps you stay in focus. Try refreshing yourself during the breaks and stay alert on what's happening at the table when getting back.


• Keep track of your emotions. Gambling is not the best thing to do when you're angry, furious or depressed. Keep in mind that focus is the key to winning at any casino games and any emotions that will interfere with your alertness are a one way ticket to losing.


• Try to have as much fun as possible. This is what gambling is all about. As long as you're having fun when playing you'll be less prone to losing money. Try to remember this and be positive about anything that happens at the table.

Classy Gunners beat unlucky Celtic

Two moments of misfortune cost Celtic dearly as Arsenal won 2-0 at Parkhead here Tuesday to leave the Hoops' chances of joining the Champions League group stages hanging by a thread. Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas' free-kick took a wild deflection off William Gallas to give the Gunners a half-time lead before Gary Caldwell knocked Gael Clichy's cross past his own keeper to secure an impressive away victory.

Arsene Wegner's side are now overwhelming favourites as they take a healthy lead to London for the second leg of this play-off tie at the Emirates Stadium in two weeks time as Tony Mowbray's side went down to their second successive home European defeat. After his goal-scoring heroics against Dynamo Moscow Georgios Samaras was favoured up front with new signing Marc-Antoine Fortune dropping to the bench while Wenger stuck with the starting line-up that demolished Everton 6-1 on Saturday.

In a match with so much at stake for both sides there was a lively start with Daniel Fox twice providing a decent delivery in to the box from the left wing early on. Some slackness in defence almost cost Celtic when Artur Boruc had to be quick to react to stop Arsenal captain Fabregas intercepting a soft Fox pass back.

At the other end Caldwell's looping header from Fox's corner was never in danger of testing Manuel Almunia as it sailed over the bar. The warning signs were there for Celtic when Andrei Arshavin had the ball in the net in the 12th minute.

Some slick passing at the edge of the box culminated in Robin van Persie's deflected shot landing at Arshavin's feet but the flag was already up for offside as the Russian drilled his effort home.

Celtic were a constant threat on the counter-attack with wingmen Aiden McGeady and Shaun Maloney utilising their pace to break quickly. And the pair combined well in the 19th minute when Maloney released McGeady down the left to go on a marauding run.

The Irishman beat three Arsenal players before electing to cross to Scott Brown in the box who went down heavily under the challenge of Thomas Vermaelen as he volleyed wide but referee Massimo Busacca waved away the Celtic player's penalty claims.

The pace of the game didn't drop but despite this it wasn't until the final five minutes of the half that the keepers were called into action. Polish keeper Boruc was equal to Arshavin's long-range effort before Almunia did well to hold on to Brown's spinning shot from the edge of the box.

With the teams deadlocked it was always going to take a piece of skill or luck to break the deadlock. And that moment came two minutes before the break when Arsenal took the lead. A free-kick at the edge of the box was played short to Fabregas and his well drilled effort took a wicked deflection off the back of Gallas as he ran across the area, the ball completely bamboozling Boruc and flying into the bottom corner of the net.

Arsenal began the second-half with an attacking onslaught with van Persie and Denilson both sending shots just wide of Boruc's post in the first three minutes. Mowbray decided to change his attacking line-up ten minutes in with Australian Scott McDonald and Fortune replacing Samaras and Massimo Donati.

But it was an Arsenal substitution which made a greater impact. Abou Diaby replaced Arshavin in the 70th minute and the substitute made an instant impression. The Frenchman beat his man in midfield before sending Gael Clichy racing down the left and the unfortunate Caldwell stuck a leg out to send his cross past his own keeper.

Woods to be fined for criticism of rules official

Tiger Woods will be fined by the PGA Tour for his public criticism of a rules official after winning the Bridgestone Invitational, a tour official said Monday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the tour does not publicize fines.

Woods was bothered after his four-shot victory Sunday because he and Padraig Harrington were put on the clock at the par-5 16th. He said that caused Harrington to rush three difficult shots, leading to triple bogey. European Tour chief referee John Paramor told Woods and Harrington they were being timed.

Woods said he told Harrington after it was over, “I’m sorry that John got in the way of a great battle.” Paramor said the final pairing was well behind most of the back nine, but officials gave them time to catch up. They were still 17 minutes out of position on the 16th tee, when they were put on the clock.

Woods hooked his tee shot, punched out to 178 yards and hit an 8-iron that stopped a foot from the hole for birdie. From the right trees, Harrington hit a 5-iron to the edge of a bunker, went over the green, then hit a flop shot too hard and into the water. The four-shot swing took the drama from one of the most compelling final rounds of the year.

“I don’t think that Paddy would have hit the pitch shot that way if he was able to take his time, look at it, analyze it,” Woods said. “But he was on the clock, had to get up there quickly and hit it.” Harrington conceded he was rushed, although he said it would be unfair to give the final group preferential treatment.

Section VI-D in the PGA Tour’s player handbook says, “It is an obligation of membership to refrain from comments to the news media that unreasonably attack or disparage tournaments, sponsors, fellow members, players, or PGA Tour.”

Hints to help you increase your chances playing online casinos games

Read through the tips we bring here to raise your opportunities at the casino. We are sure they will help you to considerably benefit.

1. Game rules are the first thing to get aware of.

Different websites proffer test online gambles in order to introduce them to you. So, don't hesitate and take one your chance to get familiar with the games you would like to play at the casino. Proper knowledge of the game makes the gambler to win it at any difficulty. This is the movement towards the player's fortune. It is suggested that you'd never play the game you are not really familiar with. Ask any other online client to explain you the game in every detail - that will help you to play fast and win the game easily.

2. It's very important to stay calm when you're playing.

If you're playing fast and winning fast as well, don't make yourself confident that next jackpot will be yours. This haughtiness and presumptuousness will make you want to play again and again without any sensible reason. You should gamble with your mind focused on the game, not your emotions being spilled out. The smart wins at all times.

2. Don't drink alcohol while gambling.

Yes, this seems to be real that free drinks proffered at the casinos make the gamblers step into it. This is the main weapon at most of the casinos - provide free drinks to make players less concentrated on the gamble and play more and more. Your thinking capability and concentration reduces while you play and drink at the same time. So it is always best to not drink while you're gambling. Make your intellect and body completely focused on the gamble to make your victory categorical.

4.Always be wise making stakes.

While you are stepping ahead for playing, make a proper settlement to expend the strict sum of money . Take out the paper and pen or just notify the same in your thoughts - how much you need to expend the day you are planning to gamble. And yes, don't stray away from your settlement. Playing again and again could for certain empty your pockets and make you spend your money limitlessly. In case you win and some bonus is offered with other different winnings - save the money you've won. Don't waste and spend them for playing once again. Try to control the winnings for subsequent use.

5. Don't boast of your victory.

Don't enlarge on your winnings and on how good you are in a gamble. Tricks and tips are some of the aspects that you might tell as sort of guidance to some other player. But as well don't make it a habit to tell too much for the victory and how great are you in the gambling. Don't leak that out in front of others. Each online casino has a paymaster to take care of your capital. Be certain to lock that fund before you leave the casino.

No doubt, in gambling all depend on fortune. So relying on the fortune too much isn't wise . The tips provided above could surely make you understand some tricks and smart tips to win blackjack and other games that will truly increase you chances to easily win the game.

Gaming addiction is fairly difficult to recognize

It is truly hard to identify the real reason to recognize what is obsession and how it is brought about. Many people are suffering from gaming addiction and it is an actual ground to pry out the true reason for it. The emotional and the intellectual devotion with some things and a necessity of something generated from inner side make the individual to completely depend on the game and to do anything to capture that taste of the extreme limit.

The basic reason for addiction is something above limit - when an individual wishes to do something out of control, not in an attitude of making any right settlement with respect to the right opportunity. Anyway, usually it might be similar to the drug addiction or some sort of gluttony and, surely, may be alcohol as well, when it's associated with the gambling field. It could be the severe trouble when talking about the gamblers.

It is true that it's pretty hard to find the cure for this addiction. According to a broad review and many other activities made on the same aspect, the individual that has these types of experiences - wins the game without any trouble, gains money again and again and could earn more and more money without confronting much difficulties during the game - is the main suspect to opt this kind of addictive activity, which is always playing in the gambling field. The income and the person's winning capability when it boundlessly increases make them to not even think of quitting the gamble as they become more and more profitable and they gamble in such a manner that no one can stop them from playing over and over again. This increases the gambler's necessity to gamble again and again, more and more, as this is does not take much effort to the player to win the game. The situation could as well arise when the need for money appears after having lost once, the player might want to play once again and then again and again, and again.

This addiction might become so destructing that it might take a form of a type of dent incident for any gambler that is addicted to gambling. If that happens, winning or losing the gamble will not be the issue then. Whatever the player will achieve, the addiction for the game will continue on prospering. If the addicted lost in Blackjack once, they will continue on playing, until they win. Thinking about them winning money again and again, for example, in Blackjack, makes the gambler addictive, and makes the mind to not think of anything else. This makes the gambler to gamble and play at any chance. Such a player sells their personal things, such as clothing, and also manages some other sorts of illegal activities as well in order to have finances for gambling. A lot of thoughts similar to hopelessness or suicide could arise as well.

Many therapies and of course treatments for the gambling addicted are set to run fairly successfully. The treatment for the same is a great YES today. The psychotherapy takes a very significant place while caring about addicted within a group. The consequence for the treatment is only recognized when the person is completely recovered accommodating the entire process in a settled time period.

Valencia earns praise after scoring on debut

Ecuadorian winger Antonio Valencia scored on his Manchester United debut in a 2-1 win over Boca Juniors on Wednesday. "I think he will figure in many games," said United manager Alex Ferguson after the friendly, part of a four-team tournament in Munich that also includes Bayern Munich and AC Milan.

"It was his first game. For his first game, we are very satisfied," he told reporters. Valencia, who joined from Wigan Athletic as a replacement for Cristiano Ronaldo, scored United's second goal in the 42nd minute with a powerful shot that slipped under keeper Roberto Abbondanzieri after he had slipped past two defenders.

"He is a good athlete, has good power and running ability, as we saw today with the way he created a good goal," said Ferguson. "Maybe it was a mistake by the goalkeeper, but he created the opportunity and opened up spaces for himself." United play Bayern on Thursday after the Germans defeated AC Milan 4-1.

Sania wins ITF Lexington Challenger tourney

India's ace tennis player Sania Mirza, seeded second, continued her good show as she upset top-seed Frenchwoman Julie Coin 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to clinch the $50,000 ITF Lexington Challenger title. With this win, the 22-year-old rose three places to 80th in the latest WTA singles rankings. However, she dropped 10 places to 49th in the WTA doubles list.

Sania kept her cool in the scintillating final in front of sizeable Indian community as she sealed the first set via tie-breaker after squandering a 5-2 lead and facing 5-all. Mirza had a great start as she broke Julie Coin in the very first game of the match, and also consolidated the break to take an early 2-0 lead.

Coin, however, got herself back in the groove by clinching the third game and then went on to break Mirza's serve to level the proceedings at two games apiece. Both of them held their serve till the eighth game of the opening set when Coin broke Sania to gain 5-3 lead.

Mirza was in no mood to surrender as she fought her way back by holding on to two under-pressure service games to force the opening set into a tie-break. Coin gained a crucial 5-2 lead in the tie-breaker but it was Sania's day as she came back hard to win four points in a row to seal the first set 7-5 in her favour.

Top-seed Coin fought hard as she took an early break to go ahead 2-1 in the second set which was as exciting as the first but Sania levelled the scores to break straight back. Sania broke Coin for a 5-3 lead and served for the match, but was broken back by Julie. However Sania broke the Coin serve in a marathon tenth game to register an impressive win.

Interestingly, this was only the second ITF $50,000 event that Sania had participated in, the first being way back in 2003 when she was still making a name for herself on the pro tour.

US reach Gold Cup final with win over Honduras

Goals from Clarence Goodson and Kenny Cooper took the United States into the final of the CONCACAF Gold Cup with a 2-0 victory over Honduras on Thursday. The US, looking to win the competition for North and Central America and the Caribbean for the third consecutive edition, will face the winners of Thursday's other semi-final between Mexico and Costa Rica.

Honduras went close in the 20th minute with a well-struck effort from Marvin Chavez that was tipped over the bar by Troy Perkins. Midfielder Stuart Holden went close in the 43rd minute with a curling free-kick that Donis Escobar tipped over and then Brian Ching struck the bar with a deflected effort.

The pressure paid off on the stroke of half-time when defender Clarence Goodson rose well to head home a Holden corner. Honduras were unable to create many chances despite plenty of midfield possession although Carlos Costly might have done better with a close range effort in the 83rd minute, which Perkins did well to block.

In the final minute, Ching back-heeled to Holden who played a low ball across the face of the goal that was turned in by substitute Cooper.

Ponting calls on Australia to raise their game

Australia captain Ricky Ponting said his side had to address "fundamental skill errors" after presiding over his country's first Test defeat at Lord's in 75 years. England's 115-run win concluded on Monday in the second Test saw them take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series just over a week after they scrambled to a draw with one wicket standing in the first Test in Cardiff.

Ponting pinpointed the first innings, where Australia could only manage 215 in reply to England's 425, on a typically good batting pitch at Lord's, as a key factor in the eventual outcome. They then collapsed to 128 for five in their second innings, chasing a world record 522 to win, before a sixth-wicket stand of 185 between Michael Clarke, who made a superb 136, and wicket-keeper Brad Haddin (80) revived Australia.

However, both men lost their wickets as England took the five they needed for victory before lunch on Monday, with fast bowler Andrew Flintoff (three) and off-spinner Graeme Swann (two) doing the damage. "There are fundamental skill errors that we have made in this game," Ponting told reporters here on Monday.

"I'm not just talking about the bowling. We didn't bat very well either in our first innings. Two hundred-odd on that wicket was a long way short of what we needed to get. "The first two days was where the game was decided. I was pretty happy with the way we stuck at things for the remainder of the game. It's just little skill errors that have cost us big time."

Ponting insisted the teams remained evenly matched, unlike the 2006/07 Ahes where he led Australia to a 5-0 whitewash of their oldest foes. It's grabbing the momentum when you can and running with it for as long as you can that's going to decide this series," he said. "If you look at this game, they grabbed the momentum on day one, ran with it, and we found it hard to wrest it back.

"A lot of Test matches are won with what happens in the first hour's play. We were a fair bit off at the start of this game and we have to make sure we're a whole lot better when we start the third one." England captain Andrew Strauss was delighted by the way his side had bounced back from a mediocre performance in Cardiff.

"It was pretty much the ideal response," said Strauss. "It was important we came out and started the game well. "We'd been given that little bit of momentum from the way the guys played that final day in Cardiff and we needed to build on that. "We came out well and put the Aussies under pressure for the first three-and-a-half days, but as is always a case in an Ashes Test they come back at you at some stage.

"To go 1-0 up in the series is all you can ask for and if we can continue playing that brand of consistent, positive cricket then we'll put them under pressure again and then it's just a case of us taking our chances." The third Test starts at Edgbaston on July 30.

Now the show shifts to Spain

There was a time when the principality of Monaco was called the rich man's playing field. The scene has shifted to Madrid, it seems, and that too for one man, a certain Florentino Perez who took charge of the city's most famous club earlier this year. The real-estate honcho is known for splurging over human commodities, otherwise known as football players, and also gave the soccer world a new word 'Galacticos'.

He is at it again this summer after his not-quite-so-rich rival Barcelona's Joan Laporta smugly adorned Camp Nou's trophy cabinet with three of Europe's best silverwares on offer last season. In the process of acquiring those, Barcelona stained Real's spotless white shirt at Bernabeu with six bullet holes. The reason for Perez to go berserk is understandable.

But the way he broke the bank for two best talents, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, evoked censure from the Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano, keeping in perspective the global economic slowdown. Together for Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema and defender Raul Albiol, Perez shelled out something around £184.6 million. Mind-boggling figure no doubt but there is something called shirt-sells in soccer and businessman Perez is not unaware of it.

What Real Madrid or Spain gained, seemed to be Manchester United or English Premier League's loss. The league, boasting of the highest television audience worldwide, has no real world stars to show for this time. 'World Player of the Year' Ronaldo will now don the white shirt instead of the red. It was the colour that made him the darling of millions from being just another trickster from an inconspicuous island of Medeira (Portugal).

Lionel Messi, on whom rests the mantle of Diego Maradona, is also with Barcelona alongwith the best passer in Europe, Xavi Hernandez. Add to it, Andres Iniesta and Thierry Henry and perhaps the enigmatic Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and the Blaugrana will continue to spawn magic on green turf.

Currently the best Brazilian attacker, Kaka too is under coach Manuel Pellegrini's expensive fold, eschewing his vows of never swapping anything for an AC Milan shirt. The recession, apparently, forced him to break his vow, he claimed.

So what is the Queen of England left with? Her top club Manchester United is flush with funds after Ronaldo was offloaded. If reports are to be believed, they gained £80 million from the sale of the Portuguese star and also let go of a restless Argentine named Carlos Tevez. He just crossed the road to join Manchester City, another club provided with a seemingly bottomless purse by an oil oligarch from the Arab lands.

If hertz power could have been recorded over the transfer buzz, Real Madrid outshouted the rest of the world, let alone Europe. The buying power of Man United, Roman Abramovich's Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool hardly created a ripple in the world talent pool. In fact, Liverpool is trying to save Xabi Alonso from the greedy eyes of Perez now.

'Professor' Arsene Wenger is also not in the pink of health. The Arsenal coach is set to lose his most potent goal-scoring weapon, Emmanuel Adebayor. Well, thankfully not to a Spanish buyer. Man City's Mark Hughes is supposedly his biggest suitor these days.

What Real are doing in Spain, Man City are trying it out in England. Having sprung a surprise on the last night of the January transfer window snaring Robinho from Real, City made their intentions clear of fearlessly buying into Europe's elite. Tevez, Roque Santa Cruz and England international Gareth Barry are the new additions to Mark Hughes' dressing-room.

In contrast, roubles from Russia are not quite so forthcoming to Chelsea, it seems. So far, their only major signing is Yuri Zhirkhov, a wingback from CSKA Moscow for a meagre £18 million. New coach Carlo Ancelotti's interest in bringing over Kaka to the British Isles was promptly spurned by the Brazilian.

In this generous July, Italy's response has been the most lukewarm. Apart from losing Kaka, they are about to lose Ibrahimovic as well to Spain with an ageing Samuel Eto'o coming to Inter in a swap. Juventus have roped in Felipe Melo, part of Brazil's Confederations Cup-winning team and Robinho's friend Diego from Werder Bremen, while Inter Milan are almost through in sealing the deal with Brazil captain Lucio.

The money changing hands, however, is peanuts compared to what Perez has done. He has set a stupendous benchmark and dared the rest of the owners to play catch up. Once the season starts in August, focus will surely be on Spain though the prime time slot will be for English League in this part of the world. The absence of Cristiano may make Manchester United a little more beatable.

Though Alex Ferguson, the grand old man of managership, has seen the comings and goings of megastars in his never-ending tenure. Already exhorting Wayne Rooney to lead the charge, the Scot has given a new lease of life to Michael Owen. Not often has Fergie's assessment of skills gone wrong. Remember the Teddy Sheringham show in 1999 when United won the treble?