Atletico oust Liverpool to reach Europa final

LIVERPOOL: Diego Forlan's extra-time effort sent Atletico Madrid into the Europa League final on away goals at the expense of Liverpool after a 2-2 aggregate draw on Thursday.

Liverpool, trailing 1-0 from the first leg, drew level just before the end of the first half through Italian midfielder Alberto Aquilani's low curling shot from inside the box.

A quiet second half set up extra time and the hosts took a 2-0 lead on the night through Yossi Benayoun's angled strike only for Forlan to smash home the ball a few minutes later.

Atletico will meet Fulham in the May 12 final in Hamburg where they will bid to win their first major European trophy since the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1962.

The Spanish side, who face Sevilla in the King's Cup next month, also reached the European Cup final in 1974.

"We have done really well," Atletico coach Quique Sanchez Flores told reporters.

"Today we got stronger as the match went on and over the two legs I think we deserved to go through.I've not known too many better moments."

For Rafa Benitez's Liverpool, Europa League silverware represented a last chance to salvage a dismal season which featured an early Champions League exit and a failed Premier League title challenge.

Liverpool started with all the attacking intent Benitez wanted from a side including Steven Gerrard, Aquilani, Ryan Babel and Dirk Kuyt and they forced three corners inside the first two minutes to raise Anfield hopes.

However, the visitors have been dangerous on their travels and as Liverpool lost their passing game Raul Garcia tested goalkeeper Pepe Reina with a dipping shot that was turned around the post.

The hosts' inability to keep the ball up front frustrated the Liverpool fans but with halftime approaching Aquilani came to their rescue, stretching to meet Benayoun's cross and curl home a low shot.

Atletico enjoyed more of the possession after the break but it was Liverpool who almost doubled their lead on 80 minutes when England fullback Glen Johnson skipped past two players before seeing his 20-metre drive tipped over.

Five-times European champions and three-times UEFA Cup winners Liverpool had produced second-leg victories twice already in the competition this season following first-leg defeats and they went ahead early in extra time.

A delightfully-chipped Lucas pass was met by Benayoun who finished well from a tight angle.

Anfield went from raptures to stunned silence shortly afterwards when Jose Antonio Reyes easily beat Johnson to set up first-leg scorer Forlan, who smashed home from five metres for the decisive away goal.

Benitez said: "We were on top for a long time. We lost the game with a late goal but it was a good game.

"It was a pity the way they scored."

We cannot take Afghanistan lightly: Dhoni

ST LUCIA: Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Thursday warned his team-mates against taking unheralded Afghanistan lightly in their Twenty20 World Cup opening match on Saturday, saying any slip-up against them can put his side out of contention for super eights.

"If you ask me, I would not consider our opening match against Afghanistan as a practice game. I don't take my opponents lightly. At the end of the day you have to win whichever team you play," said Dhoni, ruling out complacency in the Indian camp.

"I don't know much about them. It is good in a way because if we know too much about a side then you are thinking too much about them. However, our preparation will remain the same as if you are playing the best opponent in world cricket," he said.

"We can't really relax against whichever team you are playing. At the end of the day you are representing India and you have to be at your best when you turn up on the field," Dhoni added.

Afghanistan have risen from the depths of the fifth division league to rub shoulders with the best in the cricket world. Their attitude, confidence and determination are aspects that India and South Africa, who have been drawn in Group C along with them, should be wary about.

On the criticism for not playing any warm-up game before the start of the tournament, Dhoni said his side does not need such matches as they have shaped up well.

"We don't actually need to play a warm-up game as the way we have shaped up after the long journey, there wouldn't have been any good coming out of it. It is good that we can rest and have a rigorous practice session tomorrow and get back into the groove and prepare for the match against them," said Dhoni.

India's most successful captain was not worried much about the injuries to some of his key players.

"It is part and parcel of cricket that people get injured. But at the end of the day we have replaced them (Sehwag) with the best possible players available.

"We are just hoping that we won't miss them on the field. We are hopeful that people who have come as replacements would step up to the occasion and perform," he said.

Delving on Yuvraj Singh's injury-riddled form, Dhoni said, "He bats at number four and the individual he is, he can easily play the big shots. There aren't enough grounds in the world that are big enough for him not to clear."

"These big hitters have a big impact on the game. Somebody like Kieron Pollard or (Andrew) Symonds are the kind of players who can take the game away from the opponents in three or four overs. It is a big stage for him (Yuvraj) and, as we have seen of him, he loves challenges.

"His utility as a bowler also comes into play. He did well against some of the best teams in the IPL. So it is good that you have more part timers in the bowling department as it gives us more options than just playing five bowlers," he added.

The flamboyant wicketkeeper-batsman said he likes to be in the present than look at the past and into the future.

"Rather than thinking too much of the past and into the future, it is very important to be in the present. We have a couple of days before we play the first game. It is important to get the most out of it. We have to adapt to the conditions here and be prepared for the matches ahead," Dhoni said.

The Indian skipper said they know the conditions here pretty well and are not bothered if wickets behave differently at the Caribbean.

"Right now we are keen to play the games here (St Lucia). We are not looking too far. It is the not first time that we are touring West Indies. So we know what the conditions would be like and are mentally prepared for it," he said.

Asked if the IPL had left his players fatigued, Dhoni said, "The last couple of hours we spent on the bus were much worse than the cricket we played in the IPL. If you look at our schedule, it is not something that has changed drastically over the last ten years.

"We have played almost the same amount of matches. Of course, with IPL being part of the schedule it gets a little tough. The players look good. They are quite fresh. Some of them sustained injuries during the IPL and have used time well. It looks good and we are hoping that we will perform to our potential," he said.

Dhoni said there was little or no room for errors in the Twenty20 format of the game.

"In this format you have to be at your best throughout. Every step you take or every six deliveries that you bowl have a great impact on the game. In the same way every run and catch that you save or miss will impact the performance. It is going to be a tough tournament. But then it is a sport, so let's go out and enjoy our cricket," he said.

I owe a lot to Yuvraj: Rohit Sharma

India's young batting star Rohit Sharma talks about learning from Yuvraj, the importance of domestic cricket and the dislike for the dilscoop. Excerpts:

Your selection came out of the blue...

Yes it was. I didn't even know that the team selection was on March 26th. I was so focused on the IPL that it just skipped my mind. Then, on that day I was in the team bus going to the ground when a reporter called and told me that I was there in the World Cup squad. I hope I can help the team repeat what we did in 2007 in South Africa .

But how can someone be so non-chalant about a team selection?

I don't think that 'I should be in this team or that team'. If I am a part of a team it's fine, if not, it's OK. Earlier, I'd worry about these things and put unnecessary pressure but now I deliberately look the other way.

How you feel when Ian Chappell says that you can replace Sachin Tendulkar at No. 4 in Tests?

I have learnt that these things are irrelevant. If you do well people will put you on a pedestal and if you don't, you are gone (laughs).

With so much talent and promise, why haven't you been able to cement your place as yet?

I think I'm not consistent enough. There have been patches where I have been good and at times I have been really bad. Having said that I'd also like to add that I was been constantly shuffled up and down the batting order. One day I was batting at 3, 4 or 5 and other days I was batting at 7 or 8 and in between also opening the innings.

What's ideal batting slot for you?

In the middle-order. That's where I have played all my cricket.

In reaching for consistency, have you stopped playing some strokes?

I stopped playing that flick and other lofted strokes on the leg-side as my feet were not moving that well. I was focusing more on the off-side.

In the T20 World Cup, your role could be of a finisher. Your Deccan Chargers' teammate Andrew Symonds and coach Darren Lehmann have excelled in that role. Did you pick anything from them?

I have, but majority of my tricks came from Yuvraj Singh. When I was dropped, Yuvi paa cited his own example and told me that every cricketer has gone through this phase. He advised me to enjoy this period as it can be mentally draining. He is the real force behind my batting. I don't think anyone apart from Yuvi paa can help me in my batting. He told me that the most important thing as a finisher is to read the situation of the match. He said that you have to think like an opposition captain.

And what about Sachin Tendulkar? What did you pick up from him?

Whenever I have played alongside Sachin paaji he has always emphasised on the body position. He'd always stress that the head should be still. I have noticed in the IPL and even prior to that that whenever he'd hit a big shot, his body position and head would be extremely still. And if it is not then you can not middle the ball. This is what I have learnt from Sachin paaji, how to keep my head and body still.

Do you also train for big shots in the nets?

I do practise the swing of my bat. I try to keep it as straight as possible right from the back-lift to the final follow through. Also, towards the end of each practice session, I ask bowlers to bowl 25 balls and I try to hit at least 20 for a four or a six. I do not get 20 all the time, but around 17-18.

What about those cute strokes - reverse sweep, Dilscoop etc?

I don't like these strokes, I think they are far too risky for me. I concentrate on playing orthodox strokes and so far most of my runs have come through them. Also, if you look at Sachin paaji's batting in the IPL you'd realise he played hardly any of these strokes.

Was the Ranji triple ton turning point of your career?

A triple ton is a triple ton but I won't rate it that high as it came on an easier wicket (at CCI, Mumbai). I think the hundred I got against Railways in Delhi was the turning point of my career. It came on a wicket where the ball was turning from the Day 1. When I came into bat we were some 40 odd for 4 and by the end of the first innings, we took the lead in the first innings.

Ominous Nadal blasts into Rome third round

ROME: Reigning champion Rafael Nadal was at his dominant best as he thumped German Philipp Kohlshreiber 6-1, 6-3 on Wednesday to reach the third round of the ATP Rome Masters 1000.

The 23-year-old Spaniard broke his opponent four times and gave up only one break point as he easily avoided the fate that befell world number one Roger Federer when he was stunned by Ernests Gulbis on Tuesday.

The occasion on the brand new centre court in Rome seemed to get to world number 29 Kohlshreiber as he made 28 unforced errors, many wildly off the forehand side, compared to just 11 by Nadal.

The 23-year-old world number three has only ever lost here once, two years ago, and is aiming for his fifth title in six years at the Foro Italico.

Nadal cruised through the first set, breaking in the second and sixth games, but his German opponent finally started making a fist of things in the second.

He even had a chance to move a break ahead at 3-2 after a poor Nadal drive volley left him out of position and he was passed down the line to give up his only break point of the match.

But Nadal saved it and Kohlshreiber's last chance was gone.

The German was too casual on a stop volley at the net in his next service game and put it wide to give up a break point, which he lost as on another foray to the net he failed to deal with a high backhand volley from a powerful Nadal forehand.

Nadal held serve and then completed the victory when Kohlshreiber hit a woeful forehand well long of the baseline, a recurring feature in the match.

Fifth seed Robin Soderling also moved into the third round as he made short work of Italian wild card Paolo Lorenzi with a 6-1, 7-5 victory.

The Swede blasted 32 winners to just nine by his opponent as he cruised to victory in just under an hour and a quarter to equal his best ever performance here from last year.

The 25-year-old is enjoying a stand-out season having won the title in Rotterdam and reaching last week's final in Barcelona in his first clay court event of the season.

Before that he also reached back-to-back Masters semifinals in Indian Wells and Miami and is at a career high seven in the world rankings.

Soderling may have been thrashed here by Nadal last year but he then knocked the Spaniard out at Roland Garros in the fourth round before reaching his first ever Grand Slam semi-final.

Australian veteran and former Wimbledon champion Lleyton Hewitt's tournament came to an early end as he was beaten in the second round by Spain's Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-2, 6-3.

Ten-man Inter knock out holders Barcelona

BARCELONA: Inter Milan battled for more than an hour with 10 men before booking a place in next month's Champions League final at Barcelona's expense on a triumphant night for the Italian side's coach Jose Mourinho.

The Spanish holders won the semifinal second leg 1-0 but Inter went through 3-2 on aggregate on a passionate night at the Nou Camp to put the Milan side through to their first final of Europe's elite club competition since 1972.

They will play Bayern Munich in the May 22 final in Madrid.

Portuguese Mourinho, a former assistant trainer at Barca, ran on to the pitch to celebrate with his players at the final whistle and clashed with Barca goalkeeper Victor Valdes as a hail of objects rained down from the stands.

"It's an incredible joy, I've won the Champions League (with Porto in 2004) but I must say today was better than winning the Champions League," Mourinho told Rai TV.

After losing last week's semi-final first leg in Milan 3-1, Barca coach Pep Guardiola fielded an ultra-attacking formation and with the home fans roaring their support the visitors' defence came under immediate pressure.

For all their early possession Barca were struggling to create chances and a Pedro volley in the 22nd minute that flashed narrowly wide was their first real effort on goal.

Tempers boiled over five minutes later when Inter midfielder Thiago Motta flung out an arm in a challenge with Sergio Busquets which sent the Barca player tumbling to the turf.

Former Barca player Motta, who had already been booked, was sent off, sparking a melee in which he grabbed Busquets by the back of the neck before being shepherded away.

The dismissal was the cue for a magnificent rearguard action from Inter who dealt with almost everything the fearsome Barca attack could throw at them.

Barca pressed and Lionel Messi curled a shot that Julio Cesar acrobatically tipped around the post before a thunderous Zlatan Ibrahimovic flashed just wide.

As the clock ticked down, Guardiola sent centre back Gerard Pique forward to play as an extra striker and it was his superbly taken goal in the 84th minute that gave Barca hope.

With the noise levels rising ever higher, they pressed for the goal that would send them through and had a goal at the death disallowed from Bojan Krkic when Yaya Toure was adjudged to have handled the ball in the build-up.

Anand wins fourth game to go one up

SOFIA (Bulgaria): World champion Viswanathan Anand scored a rampaging victory over challenger Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria in the fourth game to grab the lead in the 12-game World Chess championship on Wednesday.

Anand, who had lost the first game unceremoniously won the second in sparkling fashion and after drawing the third and winning the fourth game comprehensively, the fans are looking up to him to do what he did to Russian Vladimir Kramnik a couple of years ago at Bonn in Germany.

The scores are now on Anand's side as he leads the 12-game match by a 2.5-1.5 margin.

It was a Queen's gambit declined once again, something that Topalov has apparently prepared for this match which is not coming good given the fact that the Bulgarian has lost his second game with black on the trot.

Interestingly enough, it was yet again a replica of 2006 match that Kramnik won against Topalov as the latter went for the same system that he chose against the Russian in the previous match.

Surprising as it may sound, Anand won the second game using the pet line of Kramnik, drew the third doing the same and won on Wednesday simply repeating the opening of the 2006 match.

And all this is possible after crushing Kramnik in 2008 clash. As it happened in the game, Topalov won a pawn in the opening, kept it close to himself for a long time and once Anand threatened to open up the king side he was left with no answers.

The Indian ace came up with a resounding sacrifice of a knight to rip apart Topalov's king side and once he decided on that there was no respite for the challenger.

Anand simply squeezed out black's resources with some high quality moves. Down a piece, the world champion created havoc in the Bulgarian's territory with some deft manoeuvres and went on to score a memorable victory.

After the rest day on Thursday, Topalov will have white in the fifth game and the Bulgarian won't leave any stones unturned for his comeback attempt.

I hope Dhoni sends me up the order: Harbhajan

NAGPUR: India's ace off-spinner Harbhajan Singh feels that the experience of playing in the Indian Premier League will hold 'Team India' in good stead on the big stage of the T20 World Cup which starts in the West Indies on Friday.

He also believes that since the conditions in the Caribbean Islands will be more or less similar to India, the Men in Blue ought to have an obvious advantage heading into the tournament.

"Most Indian players have been playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and that experience will come in handy. Some top players like Suresh Raina, M Vijay, MS Dhoni, Zaheer and myself have even played the final. Then there are others like Yusuf Pathan, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Piyush Chawla, Ashish Nehra, all of whom have done well for their respective teams. So the confidence is there. We just need to carry the momentum into the World Cup," Harbhajan Singh told TOI in an exclusive interview.

"The conditions in the West Indies would be more or less similar to what it is in India. The wickets will be on the slower side. We have a great team and if we play well, we can win the World Cup," he added.

On a more personal note, Bhajji said he was happy with his form although losing the IPL final to Chennai Super Kings was painful. "Chennai played well under pressure and they deserved to win. Period. I am happy to have done well for my side. I had a good IPL where I finished as the second highest wicket-taker (17) behind Pragyan Ohja (21). Now, I am looking forward to the challenge in the T20 World Cup," he said and added that he's no rabbit with the bat.

"I'm also fancying my chances as a batsman. In the last couple of years, I have played a few crucial innings for India in Tests. Now I take my batting seriously and work hard in the 'nets'. I just hope they give me a chance and send me up the order (laughs)."

That call will have to be taken by his captain MS Dhoni -- Bhajji not only rates him highly but also shares a good rapport with him off-the-field. "Dhoni is an ice cool person. He never shows his emotions on the ground, never gets upset with the players. To me, he is the best captain in the world. He is a fine mix of brain and brawn and he always backs his instincts. He is a great guy to have as captain. Indian cricket is safe and healthy under his leadership."

The 29-year old Harbhajan also sounded optimistic of his Punjab colleague Yuvraj Singh regaining his best form during the World Cup. "Yuvi is a dangerous player, probably one of the best in T20 cricket. He is a sure match-winner. It is just that he came back from an injury during the IPL where he performed indifferently. But he is one guy who loves a challenge and I think a good innings from him is just around the corner. In fact, I feel he is just one over away from his best. Once he finds his touch and starts playing the big shots, he is very difficult to stop. He is too good a player to keep failing."