Veron haunted

Newcastle falls to Barcelona 3-0 in preseason friendly

NEWCASTLE, England (Reuters) -- Barcelona swept aside Newcastle United to warm up for the final Champions League qualifying round with an emphatic 3-0 win on Wednesday.

Patrick Kluivert opened Barcelona's account before he was joined on the scoresheet by Javier Saviola and Luis Enrique.

Kluivert also missed a penalty as the Catalans cruised to victory before 51,257 spectators -- a record for a St James's Park friendly.

"We learnt a lesson from this defeat by Barcelona although I would not say they taught us one," Newcastle manager Bobby Robson said.

"Barcelona are a classy side and showed that with their possession and movement.

"They kept hold of the ball for six, seven or eight passes just waiting to penetrate our defense. They were also brilliant defensively.

"We will be better for the experience and we will certainly be fitter. We lost to a crack side but it was a flattering scoreline."

Newcastle dominated the opening exchanges and home debutant Hugo Viana set up their best chance in the 12th minute.

His swinging cross from the left wing was met by Nikos Dabizas whose powerful header was repelled by goalkeeper Victor Valdes.

That chance came just minutes after Barcelona defender Carlos Puyol was stretchered off following a clumsy challenge by Magpies captain Alan Shearer.

Kluivert broke the deadlock in the 28th minute.

The Dutch striker was first to compatriot Philip Cocu's long ball, getting the better of Dabizas and then Titus Bramble before slotting the ball home from 15 yards.

Saviola doubled the advantage in the 35th minute. He latched on to Gaizka Mendieta's astute chip to break the offside trap and slam a rising shot past the helpless Shay Given.

Mendieta set up Barcelona's third in the 49th minute when his curling cross from the right wing was headed home by Luis Enrique who timed his run to perfection, leaving the defense stranded.

Kluivert then saw his 58th minute penalty, awarded for a Bramble foul, superbly saved by Republic of Ireland keeper Given.

Barcelona coach Louise van Gaal was quick to praise Kluivert after the game.

"We were lucky not to be behind after the first 20 minutes because Newcastle had played very well.

"But we scored a goal which was indicative of the quality of Patrick Kluivert.

"It was very good individual play. Then we played very well, controlled the game and had great possession of the ball."

Barcelona can now look forward to meeting Polish team Legia Warsaw in their Champions League third qualifying round tie while Newcastle will face Bosnian side Zeljeznicar.

Coach says England could have won Cup

LONDON (Reuters) -- England could have gone all the way to World Cup glory, manager Sven-Goran Eriksson said on Wednesday as he began preparations for Euro 2004 qualifying.

England bowed out 2-1 in the quarterfinals to eventual champions Brazil after emerging from the "Group of Death" and then trouncing Denmark 3-0 in the second round.

"The one thing that we always said to the players was that with the team that we have, we should not be afraid of anyone and, if we are a little bit lucky, we could go all the way," Eriksson told the Football Association's Web site.

"I still think we could have done it." Despite their failure to do so, the Swede said his youthful squad will have benefited from playing against the best sides in the game.

"It was a very good experience for all of us," he said.

"In particular the young players because for many of them, and indeed for me, it was the first World Cup.

"It was also good to be in Japan. We know it's far away but they conducted and organized the tournament extremely well.

"On the pitch I think we did ok, rather well -- but not perfect. With the team we had, and still have, we could have done a little bit better."

However, Eriksson pointed to the injuries that had wrought havoc with the England squad both before and during the finals.

"We had too many players who were not 100 percent fit because they were coming back from injury and were tired," he said.

England start their Euro 2004 campaign away to group seven rivals Slovakia on October 12.

Report: Madrid rejects Tottenham bid for Morientes

MADRID, Spain (AP) -- Tottenham Hotspur's offer for Spanish striker Fernando Morientes has been turned down by Real Madrid, news reports said Wednesday.

The sports daily As reported that the Premier League club's chairman Daniel Levy tabled a 25 million euro (US$24 million) bid for the 26-year-old international during a three-hour meeting at Madrid's Santiago Bernabeu stadium Tuesday.

The paper said the European titlist would only consider an offer in the region of 30 million euros (US$28.9 million) for Morientes, who spearheaded the Spanish attack in the recent World Cup finals.

The striker, who has scored 68 league goals and has won three Champions League titles since joining Madrid from Zaragoza in 1997, has regularly been the subject of transfer talk during the last 12 months.

He was expected to be sacrificed if Real's reported interest in Inter Milan's striker Ronaldo had ended in the Brazilian star's transfer.

However, Morientes' place at Madrid appeared safer following the statement by Ronaldo's agent Alexandre Martins Wednesday that the Brazilian would see out his contract with the Italian club.

Venables confident of wrapping up Barmby deal

LEEDS, England (Reuters) -- Leeds United expect to complete the signing of Liverpool's former England midfielder Nick Barmby later this week, manager Terry Venables said on the club's official Web site on Wednesday.

The two premier league clubs have agreed a fee of 2.75 million pounds ($4.22 million) and Barmby was having a medical at the Yorkshire club's Thorp Arch training ground on Wednesday.

New Leeds manager Terry Venables believes Barmby's versatility will prove invaluable when the English premier league gets under way next weekend.

Venables knows exactly what the 28-year-old can do as he signed him at Tottenham Hotspur and also regularly selected him during his time as England coach.

The manager told Leeds' official website: "It seems to all be going along nicely, he still has to take his medical and then sit down with the chairman but it should all be finalised on Thursday.

"I know Nicky very well, we've worked together before for a long period of time so I know what he's capable of and what he can bring to this team.

"He can play anywhere across the midfield, up front, on the right side and the left side. He's also got a smashing attitude."

Barmby has become surplus to requirements at Anfield as Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier has spent around 20 million pounds bringing in new players this summer.

Robert hoping to start new season with Newcastle

LONDON (Reuters) -- Newcastle United's French winger Laurent Robert says he will shake off a spinal injury in time to start the new Premier League season -- despite club expectations he would be out for six weeks.

Robert, who is back in France for treatment after breaking down during Newcastle's pre season tour of the Netherlands, said on his Web site: "If all goes well, I will be there for the first match of the season.

"It's a fairly common injury among top-level athletes but it's not as serious as people have said. There is no inflammation, it's just painful.

"I mustn't stop training completely, there would be no point. I have to look after myself and keep up the training -- but with lighter sessions."

Robert's prediction of a return on August 19 at home to West Ham United came in a sharp contrast to Monday's prediction from the club that Robert would be out for six weeks, plus rehabilitation.

The club distanced itself from the Web site report on Wednesday, saying in a statement: "The Newcastle United position on Robert is unchanged from that given by Bobby Robson at Tuesday's press conference."

Robson had said the club were still deliberating over which of two ways of treating the Frenchman to take and said a decision would be taken by specialists and the board.

But he indicated Robert would not be immediately available, saying new signing Hugo Viana would replace the Frenchman for Wednesday's friendly against Barcelona at St James' Park.

"Now we have lost Robert for, I hope, some little time we will try Viana in the wide berth," Robson said. "It's not his normal position but I think he can handle it."

After his side's 3-0 friendly defeat by Barcelona at St James's Park, Robson said: "A statement on Laurent's website said he hoped to be fit for our first game of the season at home to West Ham on August 19. But I cannot see that myself.

"He has got a fracture and they don't heal up in two weeks and he has not trained for almost two weeks so he can't be fit anyway.

"If you have a bad back you can't run."

The former England coach added jokingly: "But Laurent has a wonderful Web site. I just wish his back was as wonderful."

Celtic cashes in on second title win

LONDON (Reuters) -- Retaining their Scottish Premier League title boosted Celtic's financial turnover by more than a third, the club announced on Wednesday.

Manager Martin O'Neill received a special mention from chairman Brian Quinn who said the club would make every effort to hold on to the Northern Irishman.

O'Neill has confirmed he will remain at Celtic until June 2003, but has hinted he could seek new challenges when his contract expires.

But Quinn said: "We will make every effort to renew his contract."

Celtic said its turnover rose 35.4 percent in the 12 months to June 30 to 56.89 million pounds (US$87.40 million) and the club's loss for the year narrowed to 2.97 million pounds -- before tax -- from 11.19 million in 2001.

"The financial benefits arising from our success domestically and in Europe allowed us to improve significantly our financial performance," Quinn said in a statement.

The club's income from multimedia and merchandising rose in 2002. Innovations included a text message service and new ranges of casual and fashion wear.

More wins needed

Quinn said share prices of quoted football clubs were likely to remain depressed until the sector adjusts to reduced income from media companies.

"Success in domestic competition remains fundamental and we hope that participation in the Champions League would allow us to continue the work of strengthening our football infrastructure, our business base and our finances," Quinn said.

Last season Celtic got through to the Champions League but narrowly missed qualifying for the second round.

Celtic said it had invested 12.11 million pounds on signing five new players, with football labor costs accounting for 49.2 percent of total turnover.

"We realize the need to control our player costs going forward," Quinn said in line with a industry-wide squeeze on players' wages which have burgeoned in recent years.

The club's dispute with others in the SPL puts a question mark over the league's long term future. Last week, 10 of the league's 12 clubs submitted their resignations following a disagreement with Celtic and Glasgow neighbors Rangers, sparked when the two clubs blocked the launch of an SPL TV channel in April.

According to SPL rules, clubs wishing to leave the league must give two years' notice.

Speculation that Celtic and Rangers might join the English Nationwide Football League, which boasts a higher profile and more money, have so far led to nothing.

FIFA rules state that teams must compete in their national league, in this case Scotland.

Quinn said: "I believe the factors which prompted us to explore such possibilities will not disappear; and we will continue to be receptive to structural change, while maintaining our stance of not abandoning Scottish football."

Veron admits to being haunted by poor form

Veron joined the Premier League side for 28 million pounds ($41.1 million) from Lazio at the start of last season, but the club's failure to win a trophy and Argentina's early exit from the World Cup had been "catastrophic," according to the player.

In a frank interview published by several British newspapers on Wednesday, Veron spoke of how during the summer he would walk the streets of Manchester in the early hours of the morning, haunted by his poor form.

"I seemed like a lunatic, but at the time I had a chance to think about what happened," Veron said.

"Walking calmly gave me a chance to take into account other things, like knowing who was on my side and who was supporting me.

"I don't know if the pain of last season was erased and the problems could one day return.

"I do know there are things in football that are difficult to digest, but with my girlfriend and friends, I didn't have a great deal of communication about it." he added.

"It was hard, but not as hard as someone who has to get up at five o'clock in the morning and look for work."

Lowest point

The 27-year-old also admitted that Argentina's World Cup failure, following on from Manchester United's poor season, had left him at the lowest point of his career.

Especially after he was substituted in his country's 1-0 group F defeat to England in Sapporo in a game he felt Argentina should not have lost.

"I cried all night and maintain that we did not fail, we just did not give a good account of ourselves," he said.

"I do not believe we deserved to lose against England. They were not better than us but Argentina did not play well -- that we know only too well.

"I never thought we wouldn't go through, although I felt inside that the squad was not playing as well as we had done in qualifying.

"I always had faith that we would do well."

After Argentina drew with Sweden in the final group game to go out of the tournament, Veron admitted that he did not watch any of the remaining matches.

"For me the World Cup finished against Sweden," he said.

Veron, however, has looked in good form in the build-up to the new season and will be hoping to impress his manager Alex Ferguson in a charity match against his former Argentine club Boca Juniors on Saturday.

"It will be a special party for me because the people at that club gave me so much," Veron said.

"I've had about 15 days rest and a good pre-season, so I feel fine. I can't wait to play."

Beckham's back to his best, says Ferguson

MANCHESTER, England (Reuters) -- David Beckham is back on top form, says Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson after watching the England captain in a 5-0 friendly win over Aarhus.

Beckham, held back at the World Cup finals by his return from a broken foot, played the first half in Tuesday's victory in Denmark.

"I think he's shown he's back to his best," Ferguson told MUTV.

"His form has been good, his passing is good, his movement's good and his fitness levels are very good."

Beckham made way in the second half for striker Diego Forlan. The Uruguayan has yet to score in a competitive game since joining in January but steered home United's fifth against the Danes.

"He made a good run for his goal and placed it nicely in the corner," said Ferguson.

"I always think that scoring a goal is helpful. He impressed me immensely."

England defender Rio Ferdinand, United's 30 million pound ($46 million) signing, missed the game after pulling up earlier in the day.

"He got a little strain in his thigh in training," said the United manager, who opted to avoid any risks before next week's Champions League outing.

"With a big game seven days away, there was no point," Ferguson said.

United face a third qualifying round, first leg clash away to either Hungary's Zalaegerszegi or Croatia Zagreb next Wednesday. After the home leg a fortnight later, the winners will go into the main group phase of the competition.

Goalkeeper Fabien Barthez was also missing from the starting line-up, but Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy signaled his presence with two goals.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ryan Giggs were also on the scoresheet as a late flurry guided United to their sixth win in seven pre-season games.

Birmingham salutes season-ticket sales

BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) -- Birmingham managing director Karren Brady has saluted the club's fans for producing record season ticket sales.

The Blues raised their season ticket prices, but it has not mattered with fans excited to see their side in the top rank of English soccer for the first time in 16 years.

"Our great admiration goes out to the supporters. Season ticket prices have gone up quite considerably this year but the support of the fans for us is a club record," Brady said.

"We already have nearly 22,000 season ticket holders and they have enabled us to go out and almost fully complete [manager] Steve Bruce's list of players he gave us for the summer."

"We hope we are not finished yet in terms of our signings and we know Steve wants at least one, if not two more and we are hoping to be able to assist him with that."

Kanu could miss Arsenal opener

LONDON (AP) -- Nigerian Kanu could miss Arsenal's opener against Birmingham after suffering an ankle sprain in a 2-1 victory Tuesday over English side Barnet.

Kanu scored an opening goal against Barnet but was taken off on a stretcher in the 63rd after catching his studs in the turf. He could miss two weeks.

"I think Kanu will be missing for the first game of the season," manager Arsene Wenger said. "We will be short."

Carew won't play at West Brom

WEST BROMWICH, England (AP) -- Norway's John Carew will not be playing at West Bromwich Albion.

The newly promoted Premier League club tried but failed to sign Carew from the Spanish side Valencia. The Spaniards are trying sell the Norway international, who has also been linked with a move to England's Fulham.

"We did inquire about the player after an agent told us there was a possibility of getting him on a year's loan but it's not going to happen," Megson said.

 

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.