Shevchenko still a Major Threat says Ex-Team Mate Lampard

LONDON - Andriy Shevchenko might have had problems playing in England but will be Ukraine's main threat in Wednesday's World Cup qualifier, former Chelsea team mate Frank Lampard said on Monday.

Group Six leaders England meet Ukraine in a competitive match for the first time at Wembley Stadium. England have 12 points from their opening four matches. Croatia are second with seven points from four games with unbeaten Ukraine third on seven points from three.

Midfielder Lampard told a media conference at the England team hotel in Watford: "Andriy Shevchenko is a fantastic player, has always been and is now.

"He will be a huge threat to us on Wednesday because he is a top player who can produce something out of the blue -- score a goal or make a goal, so I don't know why it didn't quite work out at Chelsea.

"I think he had quite a few injury problems and slight problems settling in England," Lampard continued. "He was in and out of the team at certain times, so it didn't work for him for a lot of reasons, and I think only he can explain that."

Shevchenko, 32, scored nine league goals in 47 appearances in two seasons at Stamford Bridge after moving from AC Milan for a fee British media reports estimated at around 30 million pounds ($42.54 million).

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He is now back on loan with Milan but has only started two Serie A games this season and scored two goals -- one in the Coppa Italia and the other in the UEFA Cup.

However, Shevchenko is looking for a milestone 40th goal for Ukraine in his 86th international on Wednesday.

Lampard also said Saturday's 4-0 friendly win over Slovakia, in which he scored England's third goal, was the perfect warm-up.

"Slovakia's technical style is similar to Ukraine but I am sure Ukraine will be stronger. They will come here to get points and there will certainly be an edge to their play."

Asked if they were the greatest threat to England finishing top of the group and gaining the automatic qualifying berth for the finals, Lampard said: "Possibly, especially as we still have to play them away. If we don't get the right result on Wednesday we will have a very tough game to come.

"I think the group is fairly tough. Ukraine, Croatia and also Belarus now, there are a few hard teams there.

"The good thing for us is that we have made a really positive start and if we win on Wednesday and win the two games coming up in the summer (away to Kazakhstan and home to Andorra), then we can put ourselves in a really strong position before the last few games."

( Reuters )

More Problems with the Neighbours for Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO - After impressive wins over two of Europe's most powerful teams, Brazil had more trouble with the neighbours as they were held 1-1 by Ecuador in Sunday's 2010 World Cup qualifier.

Dunga's team, who thrashed Portugal 6-2 in November and outclassed Italy in a 2-0 win in February, have struggled against much less prestigious opposition from their own back yard.

They have drawn six of their 11 World Cup qualifiers, including 0-0 draws home and away to Colombia, a 1-1 draw in Peru and a 0-0 draw at home to Bolivia.

Brazil also lost 2-0 away to Paraguay where, as on Sunday in Quito, they were hopelessly outplayed.

The only team to have played at every World Cup, Brazil have slipped to fourth in the 10-team South American group with 18 points from 11 games.

Paraguay lead with 23, followed by Argentina and Chile on 19 while Uruguay are fifth with 16.

The top four qualify directly for South Africa while the fifth team plays off against the fourth side from the CONCACAF region.

Only two points clear of fifth spot, Brazil are now in danger of having to put their unique record on the line in a two-leg playoff against opponents which could potentially include Mexico.

Dunga has blamed travelling, altitude and the hostile environment at away games for his team's problems in South America.

After Sunday's game, he told Brazilian media: "The result was normal."

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His critics are not impressed by Dunga's arguments that not have time to train the team.

In a newspaper column on Sunday, 1970 World Cup winner Tostao questioned the coach's training methods.

"I've seen on television that the team has been training basic fundamentals," he said.

"I don't give much importance to this type of training in a national team, especially against cones.

"It would be excellent in a club, particularly in the youth divisions. For the national team, it would be better to practice game situations such as marking further upfield, set pieces, positioning the defence.

"But they say there's no time... because they need to play piggy-in-the-middle and the useless two-touch games on a small pitch and with the players out of position."

Fernando Calazans, writing for the Globo newspaper before the game, said Brazil had become over-dependent on their big names such as Kaka, who missed the match with a foot injury, and Ronaldinho, who barely touched the ball before being substituted.

"If they play well, we can give Italy the run-around. If they don't we can quite easily lose or draw with Ecuador," he said.

( Reuters )

Van Persie Pulls Out of Dutch Squad with Leg Injury

AMSTERDAM - Netherlands striker Robin van Persie pulled out of the Dutch squad preparing to play Macedonia in a World Cup Group Nine qualifier on Wednesday.

Van Persie has been troubled by a hamstring injury he sustained during the 3-0 victory over Scotland on Saturday, the Dutch federation (KNVB) said in a statement on Monday.

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The Dutch are top in Group Nine with 12 points after four matches, eight points ahead of Scotland and Iceland, who will meet in Glasgow on Wednesday. Macedonia have three points.

( Reuters )

Blažević's Bosnian Belief Justified

Not many people believed Bosnia-Herzegovina could win in Belgium last night. But coach Miroslav Blažević was in that small number, and a 4-2 success and second place in FIFA World Cup qualifying Group 5 was the reward.

Scratch team
Injuries robbed Blažević of goalkeeper Kenan Hasagić, forward Vedad Ibišević and midfielders Sejad Salihović and Elvir Rahimić in Genk, meaning Nemanja Supić made his debut between the posts and Zlatan Bajramović made a comeback after 18 months ruled out. But Bajramović was to score, along with Edin Džeko, Sanel Jahić and Zvezdjan Misimović, and a repeat in the return against Belgium in Zenica on Wednesday would leave Bosnia-Herzegovina a strong position to reach the play-offs to earn a first final tournament qualification.

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Will to win
"We had to win this match if we wanted to stay in the running for the 2010 World Cup," Blažević said. "We started with a series of attacks, and soon took the lead. My players didn't give up when Belgium equalised [with 25 minutes left]. They found enough strength to score three times for a big victory." But the job is not done yet. "There won't be any relaxing on Wednesday," the coach added. "I'm convinced that it will be even harder than in Genk. Still we have enough strength and quality to beat Belgium again,"

Džeko delight
His side have managed 16 goals in their five qualifiers so far, and Džeko managed his fifth of the campaign in Belgium. "The most important is that we are scoring," the VfL Wolfsburg striker said. "We have one of the best forward lines and we will continue with more goals on Wednesday and, hopefully, with a win to satisfy our fans "

( Fuad Krvavac / UEFA )

Arsenal says Kroenke Ups Stake to 20.5 Percent

LONDON - U.S. sports tycoon Stan Kroenke has increased his stake in English Premier League club Arsenal to 20.5 percent after buying a third of director Daniel Fiszman's holding for 42.5 million pounds ($60 million).

Arsenal said in a statement that Kroenke, owner of U.S. Colorado Rapids soccer team and a member of the Arsenal board, bought 5,000 shares at 8,500 pounds apiece.

That price values the club at about 525 million pounds.

Kroenke said he wanted to work with his board colleagues to maintain a stable environment and "preserve the self-sustaining business model enjoyed by the club".

Fiszman, who now owns just over 16 percent of the total issued shared capital, said he would not sell any more shares.

"I am ... delighted that (Kroenke) has shown this desire to deepen his ties with Arsenal," Fiszman said in a statement. "I will of course continue to work for Arsenal with the best interests of the club at heart and have no intention of selling any more of my shareholding."

Fiszman, who was heavily involved in developing Arsenal's Emirates Stadium, told the club's web site he saw Kroenke's increasing involvement as a positive development.

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Arsenal, drawn against Villarreal in the quarter finals of the Champions League, have been at the centre of takeover speculation after Kroenke and then Russian Alisher Usmanov started building stakes.

Most Arsenal board members had agreed not to sell their stakes for a set period in an effort to stave off a takeover, but Fiszman said the other members had agreed to the deal.

"Stan Kroenke has proved to be a valuable member of the board and I am pleased that he has demonstrated further commitment to the club," chairman Peter Hill-Wood said.

Kroenke has previously said he is not interested in pursuing a full buyout. Usmanov is the largest shareholder with around 25 percent.

The Arsenal Supporters' Trust, whose members hold around 3 percent of the club's equity, said they had been supportive of Kroenke joining the board and welcomed his expertise.

"If a sale had to take place we are reassured that it is to Stan," it said on the Trust's web site. "The fact that Stan Kroenke is already a member of the board at Arsenal should ensure that this change does not create any instability."

( Kate Holton / Reuters )

Shevchenko Poses Threat to England's Progress

LONDON - Andriy Shevchenko will have something to prove when Ukraine attempt to jolt England's smooth progress towards the World Cup finals at Wembley on Wednesday.

The 32-year-old AC Milan striker proved an expensive misfit during two forgettable seasons with Chelsea and not even a move back to San Siro has managed to rekindle the spark that made him one of Europe's most feared marksmen.

He is still Ukraine's most famous footballer, however, and with an international strike rate of roughly a goal every two games he could pose the biggest threat to England in their Group Six qualifier.

"Shevchenko has played very little this year -- he had lots of injuries, some poor matches, but his experience and desire are priceless for us," Ukraine coach Olexiy Mykhaylychenko said in the build-up to the game.

"Young players will progress faster with him nearby."

Unbeaten Ukraine are third in the group, five points behind leaders England with a game in hand and Wednesday's match is pivotal to their hopes of competing for the top spot.

They arrived in England last week without Dynamo Kiev forward Artem Kravets who sustained a hamstring injury but with Bstriking talent like Shevchenko, Andriy Voronin and Evhen Seleznev, Mykhaylychenko is confident of a decent result.

"We have chances of acquiring the first place in our group," he said. "I perfectly realise how strong our opponents are but now there are no invincible teams in the world."

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CAPELLO WARY

England have never played Ukraine in a competitive fixture, winning two home friendlies without conceding a goal, but will expect a fifth consecutive victory in Group Six which would put clear daylight between themselves and their rivals with half the qualifying campaign left.

They thrashed Slovakia 4-0 on Saturday in a friendly with Wayne Rooney scoring twice but coach Fabio Capello is wary of the threat of a Ukraine side that appear to be re-emerging after a post-2006 World Cup slump.

He will also be aware that England were unimpressive at home against Kazakhstan in October despite a late flurry of goals.

"Ukraine are a good team," the Italian said. "When they drew against Croatia they defended very well. It will not be any easier for us."

Capello is not over-loaded with attacking options after losing Emile Heskey and Carlton Cole to injury although the form of Rooney, who has scored seven goals in his last four appearances for England, is a major plus.

Rooney, set to win his 50th cap, could start as a lone striker with Steven Gerrard tucked in behind, while winger Aaron Lennon did enough against Slovakia to suggest he will start on the right with David Beckham offering options on the bench.

Defender Rio Ferdinand hopes to have overcome a back problem to return to the side after sitting out Saturday's game.

Probable teams:

England: David James; Glen Johnson, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Ashley Cole; Aaron Lennon, Frank Lampard, Gareth Barry, Steven Gerrard, Stewart Downing; Wayne Rooney

Ukraine: Andriy Pyatov; Vyacheslav Shevchuk, Dmytro Chyhrynsky, Taras Mykhalyk, Hryhoriy Yarmash; Anatoliy Tymoschuk, Serhiy Nazarenko, Evgen Levchenko, Olexandr Aliev; Andriy Voronin, Andriy Shevchenko

( Martyn Herman / Reuters )