ARSENAL CEO
DISMISSES
TALK OF
FIRING
WENGER
GERRARD TO
RETURN FOR
LIVERPOOL IN
LEAGUE CUP
ITALY
CRUSHES
RUSSIA FOR
WC RECORD
WIN
PAGE 26 | THE PITCH
PAGE 26 | THE PITCH
PAGE 27 | THE DOMAIN
The big one
TODAY’S
GOLF THOUGHT
You must do the things
you think you cannot do
FOOTBALL
OLYMPIC QUALIFIERS
Qatar vs Saudi Arabia (Riyadh)
Rivera
sets MLB
record for
most saves
–Eleanor Roosevelt
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Qatar targets winning start
Asian Olympic
qualifiers from
today
TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK
DOHA
AFP
NEW YORK
NEW York Yankees closing relief ace
Mariano Rivera set a Major League
Baseball record with his 602nd career
save, throwing a perfect ninth inning
on Monday to complete a 6-4 victory
over Minnesota.
Two days after the 41-year-old
Panamanian right-hander equaled the
all-time saves mark set by Trevor
Hoffman, he baffled the Twins’ final
three batters for his 43rd save of the
year and 14th consecutive converted
save opportunity.
“This moment is great,” Rivera said.
“It has been wonderful. My team has
been wonderful. We won. That’s the
most important thing.”
The Yankees jumped ahead 5-0 after
three innings before Minnesota rallied
within a run, then added an insurance
run in the sixth to set the stage for
Rivera’s bid at history.
In the top of the ninth inning,
Minnesota’s Trevor Plouffe grounded
out to second base and Michael
Cuddyer flew out to right field to build
the drama.
Rivera managed the final bow himself, striking out Chris Parmelee to finish off his quest for the record.
Parmelee watched the called third
strike rocket past him into the catcher’s glove to complete the feat.
“I never dreamed about this,” Rivera
said. “From Panama to now, it was a
tremendous journey. It’s wonderful to
be number one. My whole country is
supporting me. I thank them for that.”
A raucous crowd stood during the
entire ninth inning at Yankee Stadium
and roared with delight after Rivera
made the final out. Teammates ran
and hugged him to celebrate.
QATAR, under its new coach
Paulo Autuori, will aim to kickoff the third and final round campaign for the 2012 London
Olympic Games against host
Saudi Arabia on winning note, on
Wednesday.
Brazil’s 55-year-old master tactician Autuori, who has been
entrusted a long-term responsibility to shape the Gulf nation into a
strong team, was appointed the
national team’s incharge last
month.
The man, who led Sau Paulo to
the FIFA World Clubs Cup besides
guiding both Sau Paulo and
Cruzeiro to the Copa Libertadores
titles, faces the first big competitive
test tomorrow at the King Fahd
International Stadium in Riyadh.
Saudi Arabia had staged a comeback from a goal down before winning the third place against Qatar
when the latter had organised the
GCC under-23 championship in
August. But in Riyadh, Qatar will
be looking to avenge the loss to
have a positive start to the group
matches.
And Autuori is quite capable of
coming up with a gameplan to
upset the neighbours.
Both Qatar and Saudi Arabia are
clubbed with South Korea and
Oman in the group A. Korea hosts
Oman in Changwon and will be
eyeing a winning start against the
visitors.
According to an AFP report from
Hong Kong, Asian football’s other
two giants Japan and Australia are
also looking to make strong starts
tomorrow.
All the three heavyweights will
be hot favourites to top their
Qatar’s coach Paulo Autuori.
Qatar’s Nasser Nabil (right) fights for the ball with Iraq’s Nabil Sayah during a friendly soccer match, held in
Doha, recently. (REUTERS)
respective groups and secure qualification as 12 teams jostle for coveted slots at the London Games.
Australia, fresh from routing
Yemen 7-0 over two legs in the previous round, face unfancied United
Arab Emirates in Adelaide, with
coach Aurelio Vidmar confident
his side can reach the Olympics.
“There’s good spirit, the players
are super keen and what I like
most is they’re a close, tight,
group,” he told the Sydney
Morning Herald.
“The important thing is to win
your home games, which is why we
need to get off to a good start.”
The other fixture in Group B is in
Tashkent and sees Uzbekistan taking on Iraq, who reached the group
stage by beating arch-rivals Iran.
South Korean coach Hong
Myung-Bo sees the group opener
as key to qualifying for London and
has stressed the importance of
good preparation for the away
games.
“Our preparations will be impor-
tant against those tough teams,”
Hong said after the draw, according to Yonhap news agency. “There
are no easy games in the final
round.”
For Japan, who beat Australia
earlier this year in the final of the
Asian Cup, the reward for beating
Kuwait is a Group C home game in
Tosu against Malaysia, who held
out for a dogged win over Lebanon
in the last round.
Malaysia’s coach Ong Kim Swee
acknowledged his side are long-
shots for qualification but identified home matches as the key to
their chances.
Syria take on Bahrain in Group
C’s other game, which has been
moved to the Jordanian capital
Amman following a bloody crackdown by Damascus on anti-government protests.
The teams are divided into three
groups of four and play each other
home and away. The winners
qualify for the Olympics automatically, while runners-up in each
group play a three-way roundrobin.
The winner of that contest
enters a play-off with a side from
the African confederation to
advance to next summer’s showpiece event.
Men’s football is played as an
under-23 tournament at the
Olympics, although the rules allow
for three over-age players. The
group stage wraps up in March
next year.
AFC OLYMPICS QUALIFIERS
Group A
In Changwon
South Korea v Oman
In Riyadh
Saudi Arabia v Qatar
Group B
In Tashkent
Uzbekistan v Iraq
In Adelaide
Australia v United Arab Emirates
Group C
In Amman
Syria v Bahrain
In Tosu
Japan v Malaysia
Aussies win series as Clarke hits ton
Third Test against
Lanka ends in a draw
AFP
COLOMBO
Australian cricketers, led by captain Michael Clarke (centre), with the trophy after
drawing the third Test match against Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club Ground,
in Colombo, on Tuesday. (AFP)
Sports
line
AUSTRALIA clinched the Test
series against Sri Lanka 1-0
Tuesday after resurgent skipper
Michael Clarke led from the front
to snatch a draw for the tourists
in the finely poised third and final
game.
For Clarke it was a victorious
first Test tour as captain, the
series win coming after the 125run defeat of the hosts in the
opening encounter in Galle. The
second Test in Pallekele ended in
a rain-affected draw.
Clarke said he was delighted at
his team’s performance after
receiving the series trophy
named after spin legends Shane
Warne
and
Muttiah
Muralitharan.
The skipper burst into form
with a fluent century and Michael
Hussey narrowly missed a third
consecutive hundred as Australia
piled up 488 in their second
innings before they were all out
shortly before close with a lead of
331.
Sri Lanka was 7-0 from two
overs in their second knock when
the match was called off at the
Sinhalese Sports Club in the capital Colombo.
Clarke, who replaced Ricky
Ponting as captain, hit 112 and
Hussey made 93 in a remarkable
batting revival after the tourists
had conceded a first innings lead
of 157 runs in good batting condi-
tions.
Clarke, who went 23 innings
without a Test century since
making 168 against New Zealand
in March last year, hammered 14
boundaries and three sixes in his
robust knock.
Rangana Herath finished with
remarkable figures of 7-157 on an
unhelpful pitch, his last wicket
giving him 100 Test scalps in 29
matches.
Hussey continued his amazing
run in the series, scoring 463
runs in five innings at an average
of 92.60, but missed out on a century in each innings of this
match.
SCOREBOARD
Australia (1st innings): 316
Sri Lanka (1st innings): 473
Australia (2nd innings, overnight 209-3):
S. Watson lbw b Herath21
P. Hughes c Thirimanne b Herath 126
S. Marsh c Thirimanne b Herath 18
R. Ponting c M. Jayawardene b Herath 28
M. Clarke c Paranavitana b Herath112
M. Hussey c Welegedara b Dilshan 93
B. Haddin c Lakmal b Herath 30
M. Johnson c Eranga b Welegedara 4
P. Siddle lbw b Herath26
T. Copeland c Paranavitana b Eranga3
N. Lyon not out 1
E x t r a s : (b5, lb11, nb4, w6) 26
Total (all out, 138.5 overs) 488
F a l l o f w i c k e t s : 1-62 (Watson), 2-122 (Marsh),
3-188 (Ponting), 4-220 (Hughes), 5-396
(Clarke), 6-448 (Hussey), 7-452 (Johnson), 8471 (Haddin), 9-486 (Siddle), 10-488
(Copeland).
B o w l i n g : Eranga 18.5-2-62-1 (nb1, w5),
Lakmal 22-2-86-0 (nb3, w1), Welegedara 24-388-1, Herath 52-11-157-7, Dilshan 19-0-62-1,
Thirimanne 1-0-7-0, Paranavitana 2-0-10-0.
Sri Lanka (2nd innings):
T. Paranavitana not out2
L. Thirimanne not out 4
E x t r a s : (w1) 1
Total (for no loss, two overs) 7
B o w l i n g : Copeland 1-0-3-0 (w1), Lyon 1-0-4-0.
Man of the Match: Michael Hussey
Man of the Series: Michael Hussey
Djokovic may miss Shanghai masters
Denmark claims cycling gold
Rahim new Bangladesh captain
BELGRADE Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, the world
tennis number one seed, has a back injury and
hinted to a Serbian paper on Tuesday that he
might miss the China Open and the Shanghai
ATP masters 1000 in October.
“I have a partial tear of a (back) muscle which
needs rest (...) it is hard to say how much time
off I need after only one exam, we will determine that in the days to come,” Djokovic told
the sports daily Sportske Novosti.
COPENHAGEN Denmark’s Mads Wurtz
Schmidt handed the hosts their first gold
medal of the road world championships on
Tuesday when he powered to victory in the
junior men’s time trial.
Schmidt, 17, clocked a winning time of
35min 07sec for the 27.8 km course, held
over two laps in Copenhagen, to leave 18year-old New Zealander James Oram in the
silver medal position.
DHAKA Mushfiqur Rahim has been named
Bangladesh’s new captain for the upcoming
home series against the West Indies and
Pakistan, an official said on Tuesday. Allrounder Mohammad Mahmudullah was
named Rahim’s deputy, Bangladesh Cricket
Board (BCB) spokesman Rabeed Imam said.
“Rahim will captain the national team for
Tests and limited-over matches for the home
series against the twin series,” he said.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
THE DOMAIN
Aussie coach
Nielsen quits
on winning
note
www.qatar-tribune.com
RUGBY WORLD CUP
Italy crushes Russia
for WC record win
AFP
Tim Nielsen.
AP
COLOMBO
AUSTRALIA national coach
Tim Nielsen has decided to
step down rather than reapply for his job, he said on
Tuesday, soon after the
team posted a 1-0 Test
series win over Sri Lanka in
Colombo.
Nielsen, 43, who held the
job for four years, would
have had to reapply for the
expanded role of head
coach, a post which is being
created following recommendations made by the
seven-month Argus Review
of Australian cricket.
He had been due to stay
on in the current role for
next month’s tour of South
Africa before a new head
coach was appointed, but
Australia will now have to
look for an interim coach.
Nielsen told reporters in
Colombo he was not interested in applying for the
revised job position.
“The review process has
come up with some recommendations that are meant
for Australian cricket to get
better,” he said.
ITALY hammered debutant
Russia 53-17 on Tuesday to
keep their World Cup hopes
alive with their biggest ever
win in the tournament.
The Six Nations team raced
out of the blocks with six tries
in the first half before Russia,
who celebrated their historic
first ever World Cup tries,
recovered with a vastly
improved second period.
The bonus-point win keeps
Italy in the running for the
quarter-finals despite their
opening loss to Australia,
with a crunch encounter with
Ireland looming on October
2.
“We started the game very
well, the first half I was very
happy with,” said Italy’s
South African coach, Nick
Mallet.
“And then we got a bit loose
and I made a lot of changes.
But give them credit, they
played some very nice, attacking rugby, held on to the ball
and ran at us.
“So I was very relieved that
we dominated the first phases
as much as we did because if
they had too much more ball
it might have been a bit more
difficult for us.”
Italy’s scrum savaged the
Russian forwards in the first
half and they capitalised on a
host of errors as captain
Sergio Parisse surged through
a gap in the defence to open
Iran, China &
South Korea
unbeaten
AFP
WUHAN (CHINA)
GIANT
centre
Hamed
Haddadi had 12 points and 12
rebounds on Tuesday as Iran
remained unbeaten at the
Asian Basketball Championships with a 76-45 win over
Lebanon, joining host China
and South Korea in the ranks
of the undefeated.
The Memphis Grizzlies
centre also anchored a
defence
that
stifled
Lebanon’s shooters all game,
while Haddadi’s teammates
Samad Bahrami and Hamed
Afagh helped with the scoring load, netting 16 points
NELSON (NEW ZEALAND)
South Korea
improved its
record by beating
Taiwan 82-61
behind 19 points
from sharpshooter
Cho Sung-Min.
TIMELY TACKLE Salvatore Perugini of Italy is tackled by Alexander Voytov of Russia during the 2011
Rugby World Cup pool C match, in Nelson, on Tuesday. (AFP)
the scoring on six minutes.
Winger Giulio Toniolatti
then scored twice in 10 minutes either side of a try by
Tommaso Benvenuti, who
pounced when a loose ball
slid under the diving body of
the last Russian defender.
Italy were awarded a penalty try when their forwards
crushed the Russian scrum
but they suffered a blow when
Fabio Ongaro was sin-binned
for a thumping, shoulder-first
collision which laid out fullback Igor Klyuchnikov.
And Russia took full advantage when replacement
scrum-half
Alexander
Yanyushkin darted through
for an unorthodox, over-thehead score after landing on
his back in the tackle — the
country’s first ever try at the
World Cup.
Gori crossed just before
half-time to make it 38-7 at
the break and Benvenuti
grabbed his second eight
minutes into the second period, but Russia were not done
and Vladimir Ostroushko
motored over on the right to
keep the scores at 43-12.
Australian-born
Luke
McLean got Italy’s eighth try
on 64 minutes but Alexey
Makovetskiy received a looping cut-out pass in acres of
space on the right to raise
Russian hopes of a bonuspoint fourth try.
27
apiece for the defending
champions.
“This was a good game for
us, we respect Lebanon, they
play a very physical game,”
said Iran point guard Mahdi
Kamrany, “this will help us in
the games to come.”
Iran will play South Korea
on Wednesday in the final
game of Group E play, with
both
teams
remaining
unbeaten here at five wins
and no losses.
South Korea improved its
record by beating Taiwan 8261 behind 19 points from
sharpshooter Cho Sung-Min,
but Korea’s chances could be
hurt after top scorer Oh SeKeun and former Portland
Trailblazer centre Ha SeungJin limped from the game
due to injury.
China also remained
unbeaten fighting to a physical 93-60 win over Jordan to
remain at the top of the table
in Group F and keeping their
hopes alive to win Asia’s only
automatic spot to the 2012
London Olympics with a gold
medal here.
The hosts were led by
Washington Wizard power
forward Yi Jianlian with 16
points and nine rebounds,
while Yi Li and Sun Yue
scored 14 points apiece for
the winners.
In an earlier Group F
match, Marcus Douthit
scored 25 points and grabbed
18
rebounds
as
the
Philippines ended Japan’s
four-game winning streak
with a 83-76 victory.
Japan face China on
Wednesday,
while
the
Philippines can ensure a top
quarter-final seed with a win
over Syria.
In other group actions on
Tuesday, Malaysia beat
Uzbekistan 34-33 in Group
E, while Syria knocked off the
United Arab Emirates 48-35
in Group F.
RESULTS
Group E
Malaysia 34 Uzbekistan 33
Iran 76 Lebanon 45
South Korea 82 Taiwan 61
Group F
Syria 48 United Arab Emirates 35
Philippines 83 Japan 76
China 93 Jordan 60
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Wednesday, September 21, 2011
THE PITCH
www.qatar-tribune.com
Football
ROUNDUP
English FA warns Newcastle coach
Hernandez to resume training
Munich player hurt in house fire
LONDON Newcastle manager Alan Pardew
has received a warning by the Football
Association after being found guilty of
improper conduct for speaking about a referee ahead of an English Premier League
match.The FA didn’t specify which comment
prompted the charge, although it is widely
believed to stem from Pardew’s plea to referee Howard Webb to protect midfielder Joey
Barton from being targeted by Sunderland
players in the August 20 match. Pardew
denied the charge.The FA said on Tuesday
“the case was found proven and Pardew was
warned as to his future conduct.”
LONDON Manchester United striker
Javier Hernandez is set to resume training this week after avoiding serious
injury in a late tackle by Ashley Cole in
Sunday’s defeat of Chelsea, the player’s
agent has confirmed.
Eduardo Hernandez said the Mexican
international had suffered no more than
a “bump” after the challenge by Cole
which left United manager Sir Alex
Ferguson demanding a red card.
Ferguson had initially stated
Hernandez was likely to be sideline for
two weeks following Cole’s tackle.
MUNICH Bayern Munich defender
Breno suffered only minor injuries
when his house caught fire and was
almost completely destroyed in the
early hours of Tuesday. Munich police
said that the 21-year-old Brazilian was
treated for smoke inhalation in an
ambulance and in hospital. Breno was
alone in the house when the blaze
started.”He was shocked, but he is OK
again,” Munich sports director
Christian Nerlinger told the website of
the Bundesliga club. Police said it was
investigating the cause of the fire.
Neymar quells
transfer talks;
sticks with Santos
AP
SAO PAULO
BRAZIL STRIKER Neymar
has again dismissed reports
he has reached a deal with
Barcelona or Real Madrid,
saying on Monday he will stay
with Santos at least until next
year’s Olympics in London.
Neymar said he feels honoured to be linked with the
Spanish powerhouse but is
happy for now to be playing in
Brazil, near his family and
friends.
“It has already been decided,” he said at a news conference. “I won’t leave Santos in
the next transfer window, I
will stay until the Olympics. I
have not reached a deal with
any club.”
Loyalty
to Santos club
Neymar said he
feels honoured to
be linked with the
Spanish powerhouse but is happy
for now to be playing in Brazil, near his
family and friends.
Neymar said he was looking
forward to playing for Santos
next year because the club will
be celebrating its centenary.
By staying at Santos,
Neymar will also be able to
play with the team in FIFA’s
Club World Cup in December,
a tournament that also
includes Barcelona.
Santos qualified by winning
the Cop Libertadores earlier
this year, when Neymar was a
key player. Santos hadn’t won
Latin America’s biggest club
competition since the era of
Brazil great Pele in the 1960s.
“Hopefully in next year’s
(summer) transfer window,
we will have these same two
great clubs interested in
acquiring me again, or maybe
other clubs,” Neymar said.
“Until then, I have a lot of
time to think about it.”
The 19-year-old striker has
been touted as a future Brazil
star and is expected to lead
the team in the 2014 World
Cup on home soil.
There have been daily
reports, particularly in Brazil
and Spain, speculating about
his future. One report by the
reputable Estado de S. Paulo
newspaper on Monday said
Real Madrid has already
reached a deal to sign Neymar
when he leaves Santos next
year, saying the player even
underwent a medical examination over the weekend so
the contract could be
finalised.
“I’m tired of this,” Neymar
said. “Every day I’m being
sold to a different club. Today
I’m saying once and for all
that I’m not leaving Santos
right now.”
Neymar rejected a multimillion-euro offer from
Chelsea last year and extended his contract with Santos
until after the World Cup in
Brazil.
Santos said earlier this year
that five European clubs, Real
Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea,
Manchester City and Anzhi
Makhachkala‚ had made contact to try to sign the speedy
striker and were willing to pay
the ¢45 million ($62 million)
buyout clause in his contract.
Neymar became well
known after helping Santos
win the traditional Sao Paulo
state championship and the
Brazilian Cup last year.
Interest grew after good performances for Brazil and he
established himself for good
after leading Santos to the
Cop Libertadores title.
Van Basten open
to Hamburg job
DPA
HAMBURG
MARCO van Basten is said
to be the top candidate for
the coaching job at German
Bundesliga bottom club SV
Hamburg and ready for
talks.
”The German league is
very
interesting.
If
Hamburg approach us we
will definitely listen to
them,” van Basten’s advisor
Perry Overeem told German
paper Die Welt in a report
made available ahead of
Wednesday’s publication.
The former Netherlands
striker and coach van
Basten is said to be top of
the list of Hamburg sports
director Frank Arnesen to
succeed Michael Oenning,
according to Dutch news
reports on Tuesday.
Arnesen
reportedly
wanted van Basten when
Armin Veh was sacked in
March.
But Hamburg decided at
the time to promote
Oenning from assistant to
head coach.
Oenning won only the
first of his 14 top flight
matches in charge and was
dismissed on Monday.
Hamburg are bottom of the
table with five defeats and a
draw in the season after a
major squad overhaul.
Former Hamburg coach
Huub Stevens, under-19
Germany coach Horst
Hrubesch, former Real
Madrid coach Bernd
Schuster and Marcel Koller
have also been mentioned
as candidates.
Hamburg president CarlEdgar Jarchow confirmed
to Die Welt that club officials are discussing the
names mentioned in the
media, saying Hamburg “is
very attractive even in a difficult situation.”
Hamburg under-23 team
coach Rodolfo Cardoso
started his caretaker job on
Tuesday and is set to coach
the team until a new helmsman is found.
Arsenal CEO dismisses
talk of firing Wenger
AP
LONDON
ARSENAL CHIEF executive
Ivan Gazidis insisted on
Tuesday that Arsene Wenger’s
future is not under threat, and
dismissed fan complaints that
the manager may have lost his
touch following the club’s
worst start to a season for 58
years. The Gunners are just a
point above the relegation zone
after losing three of its five
Premier League matches and
jeopardising its hopes of a first
title since 2004.
The dismal start has raised
tensions among fans, with
Wenger facing the deepest crisis of a 15-year reign that has
yielded three league titles.
But the club, which was
recently bought by American
sports tycoon Stan Kroenke, is
not contemplating any kneejerk reactions.
“Thinking spending money
solves issues (or) firing a manager solves issues‚ these are
short term cures that actually
have tremendous costs for
football clubs that are not often
played out in the short term,”
Gazidis said. “That’s a route we
are not going to go down.”
At a question and answer
event for business leaders in
London, Gazidis maintained
that Arsenal is “fortunate” to
have Wenger, whose transformation of the London club has
been widely praised.
“The amount of admiration
for Arsenal, the way we play
the game, the technical dexterity is extraordinary,” Gazidis
said at the Sport Industry
Breakfast Club. “That is something Arsene brought to the
club.”
And continues to bring,
Gazidis insisted.“Believe it or
not, he didn’t suddenly become
Arsenal’s manager Arsene Wenger watches a Champions League Group F match against Borussia Dortmund, in Dortmund, recently. (REUTERS)
a bad manager or someone
who is out of touch with the
game,” the former Major
League Soccer deputy commissioner said.
“It’s absolute nonsense.”
While the 61-year-old Wenger
has been characterised as
struggling personally during
the current turmoil, Gazidis
said the Frenchman is holding
up well.
“Arsene is not broken,”
Gazidis said. “That is a portrayal
that is black or white. You are
either flying high and everything
as great or you are a broken failure. To see him portrayed,
because he is responsible, as
some kind of idiot is profoundly
damaging, not to Arsenal or
Arsene but for the game.
“We do this to people and we
need to think about that. He is
frustrated, he shares the same
frustrations that we all do.”
Arsenal twice lost the lead at
Blackburn on Saturday, conceding two goals in the 4-3
loss that left the side with just
four points from a possible 15
so far.
Gerrard to return for Liverpool in League Cup
AFP
LIVERPOOL
Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard during a English Premier League match,
in Blackburn, recently. (EPA)
STEVEN GERRARD is poised
to make his long-awaited
comeback as Liverpool look to
forget its Premier League
problems by beating Brighton
in its third round League Cup
clash on Wednesday.
Gerrard has not played
since suffering a groin problem in March which required
surgery, but manager Kenny
Dalglish is set to use the game
to ease his influential captain
back into action after six
months on the sidelines.
Two successive league
defeats, including a 4-0 hammering at Tottenham on
Sunday,
have
marred
Liverpool’s solid start to the
season, but the return of the
England midfielder will lift
spirits.
“I’ve said all along, he’s
done fantastically well to get
where he is,” said Dalglish
when asked about the imminent return of Gerrard.
“We’ll just monitor him and
pick the right moment for him
and us before we get him
back. It’s natural everyone
wants to chase Stevie, especially after you have lost 4-0.
“But we’ll monitor it, take it
how it goes and when both
parties agree he’ll play.”
Gerrard has not been seen
in action since helping
Liverpool defeat Manchester
United 3-1 at Anfield on
March 6.
Gerrard has not
played since suffering a groin problem in March
which required surgery, but manager
Kenny Dalglish is
set to use the
game to ease his
influential captain.
He resumed full training
two weeks ago and emerged
unscathed after taking part in
a practice match last week.
“Now I’m back in with the
boys, it’s a completely different ball game - it’s a lot
tougher, quicker and I’ve
struggled the last two days, so
I’m really tired at the
moment,” said Gerrard earlier
this month.
“But I’m back in full training and looking forward to
being involved with the lads in
games in the coming weeks.”
Teenagers Danny Wilson,
John Flanagan and Jack
Robinson are also expected to
feature in a much-changed
side from the one on duty at
White Hart Lane, where
Liverpool finished with nine
men after Charlie Adam and
Martin Skrtel were sent off.
Both players will be suspended for the trip to the
south coast as a result.
Brighton are currently third
in the Championship after
being promoted from the
third tier last season, and
manager Gus Poyet is confident his players can give a
good account of themselves
during a hectic 48 hours
which also sees Brighton
entertain Leeds on Friday.
“I need to manage the
squad and the team the right
way, to have a decent team
against Liverpool and a very,
very good team against Leeds
on Friday but it’s going to be
tough,” said Poyet.